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Boost for mid-west with 600 new jobs on the way by 2020

The mid-west is getting a jobs boost with a medical devices company due to create 600 roles by 20...
Newstalk
Newstalk

11.35 5 Mar 2018


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Boost for mid-west with 600 ne...

Boost for mid-west with 600 new jobs on the way by 2020

Newstalk
Newstalk

11.35 5 Mar 2018


Share this article


The mid-west is getting a jobs boost with a medical devices company due to create 600 roles by 2020.

Edwards LifeSciences is investing €80m in building a new plant.

The company is looking at three sites in Limerick and Shannon for the new operation.

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Around 60 people will be hired this year including production staff, engineering and management.

The new staff will work at an initial site in Shannon before the new purpose-built manufacturing facility in the mid-west is completed in 2020.

The company's John McGrath explains why they decided to locate their European base here:

Boost for mid-west with 600 new jobs on the way by 2020

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“We looked for a location for a manufacturing site,” he said.

“Getting access to qualified engineers was very important to us and being in an area where there was strong university support was also very important.

“We visited the University of Limerick and LIT; we were very impressed by the programmes they have there; the integration they have with business.

“We are a high-tech company and so this ended up being the perfect location for us.”

The US company has created around a million heart-valves since it started in the 1960s. The new Irish plant will manufacture delivery components for its transcatheter heart valve therapies. 

John McGrath from Edwards LifeSciences explains why the company is different:

“We spend about 16% of our sales on research and development and so we tend to be at the leading edge of innovation,” he said.

“And the innovation we are involved in makes a huge difference in patient’s lives.

“So if people are interested in an exciting job where there would be a lot of change, a tremendous amount of opportunity and a manufacturing environment that will continue to progress, then they should seek us out.”

IDA Ireland has welcomed the announcement as “terrific news for the region and for Ireland.”


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