Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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397. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in view of the announced €150 million facility (details supplied) in Blarney, County Cork, the timeframe for capital drawdown; the number of full-time jobs which will be created annually; the public support (grants, tax incentives, infrastructure) which have been committed; and the steps the Government will take to ensure local roads, water, housing and public services scale to match the development. [52109/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Merck, a leading Science and technology company, opened its new €150 million filtration manufacturing facility at Blarney Business Park, Co. Cork on Friday, 19th September. This state-of-the-art site is Merck’s first manufacturing facility designed for full climate-neutral operations, powered entirely by renewable electricity, and marks a significant milestone in the company’s ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. The Blarney facility is part of Merck’s largest life sciences investment to date in Ireland, with €440 million committed across its Cork operations in Blarney and Carrigtwohill. The expansion will support more than 200 new jobs in Cork by 2028 and further strengthen Ireland’s reputation as a global hub for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and innovation. Details on capital drawdown, any grants, tax incentives and annual job creation are a matter for the company.

Cork has a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across Technology, Life Sciences, International Financial Services and Engineering & Industrial Technologies. There are 219 IDA client companies employing 49,868 people with an additional 39,918 indirect jobs across Cork City and County, making it the largest FDI centre outside of the Dublin region. It has won significant investment across all of these sectors over a sustained period which has contributed significantly to employment growth and positive economic impacts on other sectors of the economy.

The Government recognises that quality physical infrastructure is essential to ensure the economy has the capacity to achieve sustainable, long-term growth and plays a key role in boosting productivity and creating high value employment. This includes regionally significant infrastructure such as transport, housing, energy, water and wastewater services. The provision of essential physical infrastructure is also key to ensuring that enterprises in Ireland have the certainty they require to underpin investment decisions. Indeed, increasing the state’s capacity to deliver infrastructure is one of the six themes in the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity published on 10 September.

Specific questions relating to the development of physical infrastructure projects are a matter more pertinent to the responsible Departments, while the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will likely be able to answer in more detail on the broader topic of housing. Regarding transport in the area, I understand that work is under way to progress the M20 project, which will offer improved access to residential and employment hubs in the region, while also reducing congestion along other routes.