Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Roche, originally trading as Syntex Ireland, opened its plant in Clarecastle in 1974, before either the Minister or I were born. In 1994, it began trading as a part of the Roche group, but in 2015, having sustained debts and losses of approximately €9 million per annum, it announced its closure. It was a massive blow to Clare and represented an annual loss of €20 million to the county's economy. While there have been extensive efforts to find a new buyer, that has not happened and the plant is now being decommissioned at a cost of approximately €4.5 million.

One Clarecastle resident recently told me that Roche made Clarecastle. Now, as an accelerated decommissioning of the plant gets under way, I ask the Government and other stakeholders to do everything possible to ensure that the next stages happen in as seamless a fashion as possible.

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