A US pharmaceutical company has announced plans to create 100 jobs over the next three years in Connemara.
The news, which will more than double the workforce at Bioniche Teo, came on the same day that another pharmaceutical group, Schering Plough, said it would shed 76 jobs at its Rathdrum operation in Co Wicklow.
Bioniche, a subsidiary of the Bioniche Pharma Group, already employs 70 staff at its manufacturing factory at Inverin.
Údarás na Gaeltachta will provide a grant of €1.9 million as part of the Inverin plant expansion, which is expected to be finished by the middle of next year.
Bioniche Pharma manufactures sterile injectable products, including Suplasyn, which reduces joint pain and increases mobility and has become a market leader in Europe, according to the company.
Dr John Kavanagh, managing director of Bioniche Teo, said a high-quality workforce and the ready availability of well-qualified graduates had been a key to the success of the company's Inverin plant, and its partnership with Údarás na Gaeltachta over a 16-year period.
While Bioniche is increasing staff numbers, falling product volume has been blamed by pharma giant Schering Plough for the decision to cut back the workforce at its Wicklow plant, where it employs 440 people. News of the 76 job losses follows an announcement by the company in January that the 930-strong workforce at its plant in Brinny, Co Cork, was to be reduced by 170.
The decision to reduce staff numbers at the Wicklow plant follows a strategic review of its global operations. The company, which has operated in Rathdrum since 1981, said the job cuts were "related mainly to decreases in product volume".
It said discussions on the job cuts would begin immediately with staff groups and union representatives.
Labour deputy leader and local TD, Ms Liz McManus, said the job cuts would be "a significant blow to the area".
The Government had a duty to intervene and the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, should establish a task force to promote job creation in the Wicklow region, she said.
The job losses coincided with the publication of redundancy figures for May by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which showed a 10.3 per cent increase on the same month last year.
A total of 2,240 layoffs were notified to the Department, up from 2,030 this time last year, according to the data. Total notified redundancies for the first five months of the year are running 8.4 per cent ahead of the same period in 2003, at 11,001 compared to 10,145.
Despite the upswing in redundancies, the jobless rate as measured by the Live Register has fallen this year.
