Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

10. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department has any indication whether a matter (details supplied) will be reneged on. [63166/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In May 2021, Teva announced that Tosara Pharma, located in Baldoyle, would cease manufacturing at the end of 2022 resulting in the unfortunate loss of 130 jobs. Tosara Pharma has been manufacturing Sudocrem at a 33,000 sq.ft manufacturing plant since 1984. The site activities include manufacturing, packaging, quality, and shipping of Sudocrem to global markets. Tosara Pharma manufactures a high-volume, low-margin product and the company was of the view that the site which was dated was no longer competitive from a cost perspective. In addition, the company was unable to expand to meet increased product demand due to landlocked layout of the site.

Tosara has informed IDA Ireland that the redundancy package being offered to its staff is attractive and above statutory levels. The package has been discussed with all staff with terms of the redundancy being part of negotiations over the past number of months.

The IDA has confirmed to my Department that they met with Tosara/Teva on 30 November 2022, who provided the following update regarding the closure of the operation:

- The company noted to IDA Ireland that 50 redundancies took place on 22 December 2022 with 54 further redundancies scheduled for March 2023. The company is expected to be completely decommissioned by the end of June 2023.

- Based on discussions with Tosara/Teva, it is IDA Ireland’s understanding that the company are meeting its commitments in relation to the redundancy package agreed and that redundancies will take place as above in cooperation, coordination and agreement with all staff at the operation.

- Teva facilitated an educational programme for staff in which they had strong uptake. This training, conducted by Skillnet, included diplomas, degrees, and green or yellow belt certification in Lean Six Sigma. In July 2022 Teva also began outplacement services to provide interview and CV writing support for employees.

- Tosara is a Shingo accredited site for lean training and Tosara/Teva has forged relationships with neighbouring pharma companies including AbbVie and others in relation to supporting employees with job uptake at these operations.

The strong growth of the past decade in FDI employment continued in 2022 despite the turbulent global environment. There is a good pipeline of new investments in a range of sectors including life sciences, and IDA Ireland expects many positive announcements in the coming months.