Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I cannot answer the questions about whether specific meetings have been held. Perhaps we might revert to the Deputies on that point.

I do not have the information sought in Deputy Willie O'Dea's first question, but we can find it for him. It is important to note that this is a vital sector in Ireland. We must acknowledge that if some of the entities are facing the patent cliff or are cost centres or profit centres, decisions are taken at corporate and headquarters level and that they have implications for sites such as those in Swords and Newbridge. These are private entities and we are at the mercy of decisions taken at corporate level. That does not mean, however, that we are not trying to anticipate global trends in the pharma sector. In the constituency of Deputy Willie O'Dea we announced the establishment of the SSPC research cluster. It brings the pharmaceutical industry together to look at future trends. While the State may be moving away from investment in research and drug discovery, not that we are taking the eye off the ball, and moving strategically towards manufacturing from the molecule to medicine, these investments, in which we partner the industry, will ensure the sustainability of the industry in this country. The industry has been located here for a long time, part of the reason for which is the current corporation tax rate. If we are to have a debate about trends in the sector, such companies are located here because of the corporation tax rate, the availability of human capital, access to research and development tax rates and research facilities such as the Niberg facility which opened over one year ago.

It is a bioprocessing facility.

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