Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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274. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of persons employed in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector each year since 2003. [53697/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Pharmaceutical Industry is an enormously important and highly valued sector in Ireland, employing 25,000+ people directly in Ireland with an equivalent number employed in service provision to the sector. Employment figures in this sector for the period 2003-2012 are provided in Table A.

Ireland has an enviable history of success in this field, attracting some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, and is home to a thriving domestic sector. 9 out of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies are located here.

IDA Ireland, through its overseas network, is committed to maintaining and growing relationships with key decision makers in the pharmaceutical industry and can offer a wide variety of assistance to companies to support new investment and uplift in technical capability of existing clients.

The indigenous pharma/chemical sector plays a key role in this ecosystem and consists of approximately 100 Enterprise Ireland client companies. This sector has been growing at an average of 14% per annum over the last four years. In 2012, the sector had exports of over €450M, and employment of over 2,500 people.

The State has invested heavily through Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in the development of a World-class Research Infrastructure by funding industry-academic research collaborations, Industry-led research programmes/Technology Centres and the Applied Research Enhancement Programmes through the likes of the National Institute for Bioprocess Research and Training (NIBRT), the Solid State Pharmaceutics cluster and the Pharma Technology Centre. These centres aim to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the Irish biopharma industry by investing in research on next generation manufacturing processes and training & education of people to work in this industry.

A key focus for Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and other relevant stakeholder bodies is to promote and build expertise in ‘biological’ research, development and manufacture such that Ireland continues to develop as a globally recognised ‘biopharmaceutical hub’. The NIBRT facility has been effective in bringing training on large molecule manufacturing processes to the sector in Ireland.

Total Employment in Agency Assisted Companies in

Pharma/Chem Sector, 2003-2012