Medical devices firm Boston Scientific is to close its plant in Co Donegal next year and computer-maker IBM has sought 120 redundancies in Dublin. Galway-based electronics firm Celestica is to seek 80 voluntary redundancies, it announced tonight.
Boston said in a statement that most of the manufacturing at the Letterkenny facility, which employs 120 people, would be switched to its Galway plant. The decision follows a review of the medical device firm's operations in Ireland.
The Letterkenny facility has been in operation since 1992. Last August, Boston Scientific announced the closure of its Tullamore plant with the loss of 240 jobs.
The company said opportunities would be made available for workers at Letterkenny to voluntarily move to the Galway plant. The company, which recently acquired Labcoat Ltd, a small medical device development firm based in Galway, said it remained committed to its operations in Ireland.
IBM is seeking 120 voluntary redundancies at its technology campus in Mulhuddart, after the company decided to move its facility that manufactures high-end computer servers to Singapore.
The computer-maker employs 3,400 staff in Ireland, including 2,000 in Dublin. Those taking redundancy are expected to leave by the end of April, while the server manufacturing operation is set to move to Asia by the end of 2010.
"IBM plans to move its high-end server manufacturing and fulfillment operations for Europe, Africa and Asia to Singapore," a spokesman said in a statement this afternoon. "This change will provide a more strategic location for manufacturing operations, placing us closer to our growth markets and suppliers, and giving us greater operational efficiency and cost savings."
He said the technology campus had evolved as a "strong software and services location" and said it would continue to provide low-end power-based systems manufacturing and fulfillment for Europe, Africa and Asia.
Meanwhile, Canadian electronics manufacturing company Celestica is to make 80 staff redundant at its Galway plant within weeks. Staff among were informed of the development at a meeting in the company’s Parkmore facility in Galway tonight.
Celestica, which was previously owned by Manufacturer's Services Ltd (MSL), employs 300 staff in automated manufacturing. One of its main contracts is the production of inkjet cartridges for Hewlett-Packard.
The Galway plant was established in Galway in 2000 and acquired by Celestica, which is based in Toronto, Canada, in 2004.
A Celestica spokesman told The Irish Timesthe redundancies would initially be sought on a voluntary basis. He said the company had no plans at present to close the plant.
Celestica previously had a plant in Swords, Co Dublin, producing printed circuit boards and specialist products for the telecoms industry. It employed 1,000 staff at peak, but the Swords plant closed in 2003 when the company moved operations to the Czech Republic.
