Local TD Denis Naughten has called on the Government to intervene to secure 500 new Elan jobs, following revelations this week that the company plans to eventually sell its Athlone plant.
Speaking in the Dail yesterday (Thursday ) morning, the Fine Gael TD called on the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to take a direct role in securing Elan’s planned new 500-job biological processing plant for Athlone, which he is fearful will be moved to Dublin.
Although he was ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Naughten has pledged to raise the matter with the Tanaiste at the earliest opportunity.
“In light of the confirmation again this week by the Elan Chief Executive that the company has plans to eventually dispose of its existing operation in the town of Athlone, there is now a real fear within the local community that the company is planning to transfer its new biological processing plant, with 500 potential jobs, from Athlone to Dublin.
“Of course, the final decision on the location of this project has not been helped by the Government's 2005 decision to reject a proposal to locate the new €90 million biotech research centre, the National Institute of Bioprocessing Research and Training, in Athlone and instead opt for a Dublin site,” said Deputy Naughten.
The Roscommon/ South Leitrim TD added that Roscommon County Council had already completed upgrades to the water supply and wastewater treatment plants in the area, on the basis of facilitating the significant new development. A decision on the location of the biological processing plant is expected in December.
“If this investment was to switch to Dublin, it would be a huge blow not only to Roscommon, but to Athlone and the Midlands... If a long-standing blue chip employer like Elan were to lose confidence in the Midlands by relocating its investment to Dublin, it would send out a very bad signal for potential future pharmaceutical investment in the Midland counties,” said Deputy Naughten.
His comments follow confirmation this week from Elan that it intends to sell its Athlone operation “at some point in the future”. Speaking at the Reuters Health Summit in New York, Elan’s Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Martin, revealed that Elan is considering closing two of its locations, though the company has not yet decided which ones. "We are currently going through a process where we are evaluating where we can take costs down and reallocate and reduce. There are a couple of locations we can potentially exit entirely,” he said.
In the nine months up to September 2008, Elan’s net losses amounted to $240.5 million, and its US stock has fallen over 80 per cent since July. Mr Martin revealed this week that he wishes to raise between $300 and $500 million within the next six to eight months, which he expects to do by selling the rights to some of the company’s experimental products.
Elan recently attempted to sell its drug technology business, worth about $1 billion, but the credit crisis prevented the hoped-for sale. However the company is determined to continue to produce experimental products to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and remain confident that 100,000 patients will be taking multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri by the end of 2010.
Deputy Naughten is adamant the Government must not “take its eye off the ball” and must act urgently to secure the 500 jobs for the Athlone site. "This issue is a fundamental test for our new Taoiseach and will have major implications for the long-term industrial policy of consecutive governments in terms of bringing foreign direct investment to the region,” he concluded.
