Improvements in the cost of doing Business in Ireland



Dublin, IDA Ireland welcomed a report by The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and Forfas showing significant improvements in the cost of doing business in Ireland. The report analyses Ireland’s relative cost competitiveness performance in the areas of labour, property, utilities, and business services and also looks at the broader cost environment that directly impacts on the cost of doing business here.

The report entitled,  ‘The Cost of doing Business in Ireland 2010’ shows Ireland’s cost competitiveness has improved considerably for a range of business inputs such as energy, property and a number of key business services.

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Covidien Opens European Services Centre in Cherrywood Dublin



Dublin, Ireland – July 20, 2010 – Covidien, a leading global supplier of healthcare products, today announced the official opening of its Cherrywood European Services Centre and the creation of more than 200 jobs since 2009. €11 million has been invested in the state of the art Cherrywood contact centre which houses customer services, credit control, contracts & pricing and import & export functions for 16 European countries.  The Cherrywood site is also the base for Covidien’s sales and marketing teams in Ireland. 

Covidien also announced today that it will be putting an initial €1.8 million investment into a medical technologies research and development project which will involve three Irish academic institutions.  Full details of the project will be announced later in the year.

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Ireland out of Recession and into Growth



Publication of CSO National Accounts Figures for Quarter 1 2010.

The Minister for Finance, Mr. Brian Lenihan T.D., today (30th June 2010) welcomed the publication of the Central Statistics Office’s National Accounts figures for the first quarter of 2010. Commenting on the data, the Minister stated:

“These economic figures show that Ireland is out of recession with GDP expanding by 2.7 per cent between the final quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, which is the fastest growth rate in the OECD”

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200 New Jobs for UnitedHealth Group in Letterkenny



Donegal, Tánaiste and Minister for Education Mary Coughlan TD today (July 15th 2010) announced that US health insurer UnitedHealth Group is to expand its operation in Letterkenny with the creation of 200 new jobs. The announcement is supported by the Irish Government with the aid of IDA.
The Minneapolis-based health insurer currently employs 340 people in IT and medical claims processing at its Letterkenny site, and this latest investment is expected to further embed jobs into the future. The 200 new positions will be split evenly between IT technicians and medical claims associates.
 

Commenting at the announcement, Tánaiste and Minister for Education, Mary Coughlan TD said, ‘Today’s announcement by UnitedHealth is a remarkable boost to one of Donegal’s most valuable employers. This expansion by one of the world’s leading health insurers is significant to the financial services sector in Ireland.’

‘UnitedHealth’s’ decision to expand in Ireland comes about as a direct result of the availability of highly-skilled staff in the region, the performance and tenure of existing staff and also the geographic location of the Letterkenny site – it’s time zone lends itself to the 24/7 support needed for the US and Indian markets. On behalf of the Irish Government I look forward to providing continued support to UnitedHealth as its Irish operation grows and develops.’

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Eli Lilly to establish European Financial Services Centre in Cork



Cork, Ireland, 9th July 2010 —- Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe T.D, today announced that Eli Lilly and Company, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world, is to establish a European Financial Services Centre in Cork.  The company plans to create up to 100 new high-skilled finance positions at the operation, the majority of which are to be recruited by the end of Quarter 1, 2011.  IDA Ireland worked closely with Eli Lilly to attract this investment to Ireland against significant competition from other European locations. 

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Eli Lilly employs nearly 40,000 people worldwide. The European Financial Services Centre, to be located in Cork City, will support Lilly’s European operations, providing general accounting, order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay activities.  Recruitment for finance professionals will commence immediately and it is planned that the centre will be fully operational in 2011.  
Speaking at the announcement, Minister O’Keeffe said: “’The Government has worked closely with Eli Lilly to secure this investment in Cork and the firm’s decision to invest in the county attests strongly to the academic calibre of the local labour pool and the quality of our higher education institutions”.
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Sign up to Irish Business Network Switzerland on LinkedIn



ibnPlease join the new Irish Business Network Group, ‘Irish Business Network Switzerland’ on LinkedIn.

This is a networking platform for Irish business people or anyone affiliated to Ireland living in Switzerland.

To access the group site, please click on the link below:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3143953&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

 

Qumas and Livec Event



qumas-1QUMAS and Livec Present: Off-the-Shelf Integrated GxP Content and Process Management

For all Irish Business Network members who wish to find out more about the Data Management Solutions and learn about the Off-the-Shelf Integrated GxP Content and Process Management solutions offered by Qumas and their Swiss business partner Livec, please come to this event on Tuesday 22nd June, 2010, Radisson Blu Hotel, Basel, Steinentorstrasse 25, 4051 Basel, Switzerland

Special Guest: Ms Jane Ann Duffy – Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Irish Embassy to Switzerland

Registration is free of charge, please register at www.qumas.com

Language: English

Agenda:

08:00 – 09:00 Registration & Coffee

09:00 – 09:05 Opening and Introduction (Enterprise Ireland)

09:05 – 09:15 Ms Jane Ann Duffy – Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Irish Embassy to Switzerland

09:15 – 09:25 Enterprise Ireland – Doing business with Irish companies and why QUMAS was chosen as a company to support.

09:25 – 09:55 Off-the-Shelf Integrated GxP Content and Process Management – Ken Hayward (Subject Matter Expert)

09:55 – 10:40 Introduction to QUMAS and to our Pre-Defined Packages – Steve Dawson and Ken Hayward (Subject Matter Expert)

10:40 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 – 11:30 The Synthon Case Study – Tieme Stoutjesdijk, Application Manager, Information Management, Synthon

11:30 – 12:15 QUMAS Pre-Defined Package Demonstration – Cyril Walsh, Senior Solutions Consultant

12:15 – 12:45 Introduction to Livec AG as the local implementation partner and point of contact for interest going forward – Rocco Branco, CEO Livec AG

12:45 – 13:00 Q&A

13.00 Lunch

If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact: Áine Dunleavy (Marketing Executive, QUMAS) Tel: +353 21 491 5100, Email: adunleavy@qumas.com

David Blake, Enterprise Ireland

 

Basel: Member Networking Event, May 6th 2010



teufel41The Irish Business Network Switzerland would like to invite all its members to its upcoming Networking Event at ‘Der Teufelhof Hotel’, Leonhardsgraben 47-49, 4051 Basel, on 6th May 2010 at 19.00h.

 

The event will include guest speakers from exciting Irish companies ammado, Globoforce and Qumas, who are all making significant in-roads into the Swiss market. These companies offer highly innovative  solutions and after the presentations, speakers will be available to answer any questions you may have.

 

As the summer months are fast approaching, this will be the last IBN event until the autumn. Therefore, before we take a break from events over the summer, we would encourage all members to show their continued support for the network, enjoy all drinks and canapés provided by the Business Network, and to learn more about Irish technology capabilities.

 

Companies presenting:

ammado21ammado connects nonprofits, socially responsible companies and engaged individuals in a unique environment of shared interests and offers the tools necessary to supply online campaigning, fundraising, engagement and communication.

 

globoforce11Globoforce is the world’s leading provider of strategic employee recognition programs for Global 2000 companies. Globoforce transforms the way companies engage, motivate and empower their workforce accross the globe.   

 

 

qumas-1QUMAS is the leader in regulatory compliance management solutions for document and quality management, submissions management and regulatory approval.

 

 

 

Zurich Group creates 240 jobs in Ireland



Zurich, which has a long-standing presence in Ireland, has been on a zurichinsurance212 year recruitment drive since the end of 2008 involving the creation of 240 new jobs by the end of 2010. This will bring the total number employed by the company in Ireland to 1,100.

Already, 120 of the jobs have been filled through a new business centre in Wexford. The balance of jobs are being filled in two of the company’s European centres in Dublin.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe T.D welcomed Martin Senn, CEO of Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) to Ireland, noting: ‘World-leader Zurich has chosen Ireland as the European centre for its strategically important operations - a strong endorsement of our highly educated and flexible workforce in the financial services sector.  

‘The creation of 240 positions which will all be filled by the end of the year demonstrates Zurich’s commitment to growth in Ireland and reaffirms the Government’s confidence in our ability to recover from recession,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

Markus Hongler, CEO Zurich Insurance plc and Chairman Zurich Life Assurance plc said:
“Zurich considered a number of options and Ireland best met our requirements because of its long-standing membership of the EU and the Euro, a well developed insurance market and a highly educated and skilled workforce. These factors continue to underpin our success and drive our business forward both in Ireland and across Europe.”
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IDA welcomes GE Healthcare’s investment in TRIL Centre



GE Healthcare joins Intel and leading Irish Universities at world-class Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre.

 

logo3The TRIL (Technology Research for Independent Living) Centre, Ireland has announced a new industry partner, GE Healthcare.  TRIL is a groundbreaking research initiative, founded in January 2007 by Intel Corporation and IDA Ireland, to explore the physical, cognitive and social consequences of ageing and design technologies to help address them. The addition of GE Healthcare as an industry partner will help TRIL to extend and expand its research programme.  GE joins the TRIL Centre as its second industry partner for 2010, alongside co-founder Intel and academic partners University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and NUI Galway.  GE Healthcare is investing $3 million in the TRIL Centre.

 

Commenting on the announcement, Barry O’Leary, IDA CEO said, ‘IDA is delighted with today’s announcement by GE Healthcare to join INTEL, and a number of leading Irish Universities, to develop new technologies at TRIL. IDA in collaboration with INTEL founded TRIL and GE Healthcare’s investment in this cutting-edge facility is a significant endorsement of Ireland’s ability to win key projects in the innovation space, building on the Government’s Smart Economy Strategy.’

 

‘GE Healthcare and INTEL are world-class corporations and leaders in their fields. The convergence of the companies’ technological expertise and the innovative research that will be carried by joining forces at TRIL has the potential to lead to ground-breaking advances in the emerging area of independent living technologies.’

 

A key goal of TRIL’s research, which brings together world-class industry and academic experts from multiple disciplines, is to enable older people to live independently in the homes of their choice for as long as possible, with the help of technology—and in the process, to help ease the strain on global healthcare systems as the world’s population ages.  This objective aligns with GE Healthcare’s goal of continuously developing innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality and efficiency.
Home health is a key business focus for GE Healthcare.  The company recently acquired Living Independently Group, a provider of QuietCare, a passive activity monitoring system used to assist in the care of the elderly.  The company is also leading a consortium of private and public sector organizations in a $5 million three-year home health research program funded by the Hungarian government.  In April 2009, GE and Intel announced the formation of a healthcare alliance to develop and market technologies for independent living and chronic disease management.  As part of this alliance, GE Healthcare markets the Intel® Health Guide in the US and UK. The Intel Health Guide is a comprehensive personal health system that combines an in-home patient device – the Intel® Health Guide PHS6000 – as well as an online interface – the Intel® Health Care Management Suite – allowing clinicians to monitor patients from their homes and manage care remotely.

 

Over the last three years, more than 600 older adults have been assessed in the TRIL Clinic and a large number have participated in the TRIL technology home deployment programme.  The commitment of GE Healthcare will enable TRIL to expand the pool of participants and build on the accomplishments of the first three years. The addition of GE Healthcare as an industry partner supports TRIL’s strategic vision of securing additional industry partners, from SMEs to multinational companies such as GE and Intel, to advance its important research effort.

 

IDA Ireland Press Release, 28th April 2010att00004-24