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Mayor sounds warning Cm CCS

This article is from page 7 of the 2005-09-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG

THE Mayor of Ennis has expressed con- cern that manufacturing companies are not setting up in the town, in the wake of the announcement that Roche Ireland in Clare- castle, is to shed 35 jobs over the next 18 TneLOyedetse

Mayor Frankie Neylon said the news from Roche was very disappointing for the town. “I am hoping this will be the end of the lay-offs in Ennis. These jobs will be shed over 18 months so it is not as bad as if it was before Christmas. But very few jobs have been created in Ennis in recent years and there has been several closures.

“The lack of manufacturing jobs here is not good. Companies can go elsewhere for a quarter of the price and that is something we have no control over,” said Cllr Neylon.

He expressed disappointment that there appeared to be few prospects of companies setting up at the Technology Park in the rey aee

“One unit is occupied by Clare County Council and Shannon Development occu- pies part of another. I don’t see anything new coming in there and that is very dis- appointing. People are leaving Ennis every day to work elsewhere,” he said.

Ennis Chamber of Commerce CEO Rita McInerney said while job losses were dif- ficult at any time, this blow didn’t really re- flect the overall performance of Roche.

“It is a worrying trend in terms of the way manufacturing is going in this country as a whole. We have to look at ways of attract- ing this type of industry into the region. Manufacturing is leaving Ireland and is going to countries where labour costs are lower,’ said Ms McInerney.

“We have to attract high quality jobs which require a high level of education. We have a very well-educated workforce in the town,” she added.

A production unit at the pharmaceutical plant – which manufactures naproxen, a pain reliever used for arthritis – will close by the end of next year. The company said price competition was a key issue in the de- TSO

‘There are less costly sources of naproxen intermediate in the market place than from the Roche supply chain,” said a spokesper- son for Roche.

Roche has been in existence in Clarecas- tle since 1974. With a current workforce of 270, which is supplemented by 100 contract staff, it 1s Ennis’s biggest employer.

The company will attempt to reach the job cut target through a voluntary sever- ance programme.

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