Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter. The IDA invited proposals in July 2004 for collaborative groups of academic institutions to undertake the establishment of the national institute for bioprocessing research and training. The three main functions of the new institute will be training and education in bioprocessing, research in bioprocessing technologies and scale up capabilities for the stakeholder institutions. It is envisaged that the institute will be a state-of-the-art national facility designed to give Ireland a competitive advantage and act as a magnet for the attraction of further significant investment in the biopharmaceutical industry in Ireland by foreign and indigenous companies and to encourage existing foreign-owned and indigenous companies to establish start up ventures in Ireland.

One of the key elements of the proposal was the location of the institute. The documentation stated the chosen location would best facilitate the interaction of the industry and the academic institutions. Athlone in the midlands is the best location. Athlone Institute of Technology together with Dublin City University, NUI Galway and a number of other institutions made a submission to the IDA a number of years to establish the institute in Athlone. This was supported and encouraged by the IDA at the time and Mr. Sean Dorgan, its chief executive, publicly indicated the project would be developed on a campus in Athlone. The four local authorities in the midlands also supported the project.

However, a number of the larger universities and biopharmaceutical companies in the State got wind of what was happening and kicked up a stink, with the result that an expanded competition was run. The Government selected UCD as the preferred bidder for the €90 million project. The State is in negotiations with UCD, Trinity College, Dublin and Sligo Institute of Technology to develop the campus in Dublin. To date, detailed discussions have taken place but the door is still ajar in regard to the location of the proposed site and what will be the lead institution in regard to it.

I ask the Minister to reconsider the DCU bid which has been made in conjunction with Athlone Institute of Technology and other third level institutions. If it is not possible to reopen negotiations with DCU I urge the Minister to negotiate with UCD and TCD to locate in the heart of the BMW region, the town of Athlone. As yet, no decision has been taken in regard to location and it is critically important that a decision is taken. It is a significant opportunity for the midlands.

Athlone has been designated a gateway town. We should support the location of this proposed centre in Athlone. Athlone has also lost the eBay investment, which was a great blow to the town. An announcement was made recently about the location of Yahoo in Dublin.

There is too much of a focus on Dublin in the biopharmaceutical industry. Great pressure and demand already exists in this area. Centres of excellence and biotech clusters already exist in Dublin. We must start looking and expanding outside Dublin. The midlands has a strong reputation in the biopharmaceutical industry, and Athlone is the capital of that sector. The Taoiseach was in Athlone recently to open Pharmaplaz, a new indigenous biopharmaceutical company. It is critically important that the Government takes the lead in regard to this and makes a decision to locate that facility in Athlone, which is the most central location in the country that can easily feed into the other academic institutions and to the biopharmaceutical companies, not only in Dublin but also in the rest of the country. It is important that we look at expanding the clusters we have and not just continue to focus on Dublin. The Minister should ensure this vital decision is taken in favour of the midlands and Athlone.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I wish to reply on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin.

IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland and its regions. While the Minister may give general policy directives to the agency, he is precluded under the Acts from giving directives regarding individual undertakings or from giving preference to one area over others.

IDA Ireland has informed the Minister that, following wide consultation in the US and Europe with businesses and academia in the biotechnology industry and taking into account the key educational and industrial issues that it has identified, the agency believes that Ireland should make a strategic competitive investment and establish a national bioprocessing research, education, training and service facility.

According to IDA Ireland vision, such a facility should have three primary functions: training and education in bioprocessing; research in bioprocessing technologies; and scale-up capability to service the research, training, education and service needs of the institutes' stakeholders.

IDA Ireland envisages the facility will be a state-of-the-art national institute designed to provide, in conjunction with academic institutes, a substantive output of people with high level, best practice skills across the spectrum of bioprocessing activities, applicable in a real time scale-up environment. It is envisaged that it will undertake academic and industry collaborative research with an emphasis on advancing knowledge in bioprocessing technologies and techniques, the technical problems of scale-up and related issues. It will give Ireland a competitive advantage and act as a magnet of attraction for further significant investment in the biopharmaceutical industry in Ireland by both overseas and indigenous companies. It will also encourage the development of existing foreign-owned and indigenous biopharmaceutical sector and the establishment of new start-up ventures in Ireland.

On 23 July 2004, IDA Ireland, through a series of newspaper advertisements, invited proposals from collaborative groups of academic institutions to undertake the establishment of the national institute of bioprocessing research and training in Ireland. A detailed invitation specification document was issued to prospective applicants which outlined the background to the needs to be addressed, required elements, outputs and deliverables expected, criteria for adjudication and the proposal content details to be submitted. This invitation clearly spelled out the need for approval by the IDA Ireland board and the Government for any funding but also reserved the right not to accept any proposal.

Proposals were received from three consortia by the closing date of 15 October 2004 and a panel of international experts reviewed the quality, value and impact of the proposed activity on 15 November 2004. The panel's evaluation report, which recommended that IDA Ireland in the first instance negotiate with the consortium led by UCD, with Trinity College Dublin and Sligo Institute of Technology as partners, was considered by the board of IDA Ireland on 8 December 2004. They agreed to proceed to the next stage of the process and commence negotiations as recommended by the panel.

The Minister understands that these negotiations are well under way and are dealing with a wide range of substantive issues and recommendations identified in the evaluation report which were considered by the international experts to be necessary for the successful establishment of the institute. Needless to say, the issue of location will be an integral part of this negotiation process.

It is anticipated that a proposal which addresses all the issues for success will be considered by the board of IDA Ireland within the coming months before being recommended to Government for consideration.