Archive for the ‘Business News from Ireland’ Category

Improvements in the cost of doing Business in Ireland

Posted in Business News from Ireland on 07/23/2010 09:45 am by Philip Kavanagh

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.

Welcoming the Report, Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA said, ‘Competitiveness is a key influencing factor when foreign multinational companies are choosing a location for their international operations. This report is further evidence that the cost of doing business in Ireland is falling, which in turn is helping to win new Foreign Direct Investment for Ireland and grow exports.

 

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Covidien Opens European Services Centre

Posted in Business News from Ireland, Uncategorized on 07/20/2010 03:25 pm by Philip Kavanagh

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

Posted in Business News from Ireland on 07/16/2010 04:08 pm by mrooney

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

Posted in Business News from Ireland on 07/15/2010 01:28 pm by Philip Kavanagh

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

Posted in Business News from Ireland, Uncategorized on 07/13/2010 09:20 am by Philip Kavanagh

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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Zurich Group creates 240 jobs in Ireland

Posted in Business News from Ireland, Uncategorized on 06/15/2010 09:22 am by Philip Kavanagh

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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