Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I rise to welcome the good news announced yesterday in respect of the arrival of Eli Lilly in Limerick. It is currently based in Cork and employs 38,000 people globally. An investment of €500 million was announced initially but the figure has now gone up to €1 billion. It will be a state-of-the-art development and 1,200 people will be employed in its construction, which has already started. There will also be 300 permanent jobs on site. This is a good news story. The Eli Lilly campus has been designed to take climate change into account and it will produce enough electricity at the site to heat more than 775 homes annually. It will also recycle its water. There is a rare barley plant on the site. A commitment has been given to consider that plant and carry out various tests to see how it can be used.It is an awfully big news story for Limerick but also will be state of the art. It is going to be the company's biggest plant in the world and its intention to employ so many people and to supply biopharma and medicines worldwide is to be welcomed.