US firm Integer plans new ‘€100m’ facility in Galway
Medical devices firm is looking to build 13,600 sq m manufacturing facility
INTEGER, a US medical device development and outsource manufacturer, has applied for planning permission to develop a new medical devices manufacturing and research and development facility in Brockagh, Co Galway, which industry sources say could represent an investment of up to €100m.
The company, which employs around 360 people in Galway, hopes to build the facility at the IDA’s Galway Business and Technology Park, Parkmore East. Integer’s proposed new facility will be close to its current site, in the Parkmore West Business Park.
The development, which is supported by IDA Ireland, is to consist of a two-storey building, comprising manufacturing floorspace of 10,610 sq m, with associated office floorspace of 2,445 sq m.
It will also feature an access road, including a roundabout, which will provide access from Parkmore Road via the existing Parkmore East Business Park internal roads.
The proposed development has a total gross internal floor area of 13,656 sq m, which will include utility buildings of 61 sq m. A planning document also shows that it intends to provide 276 car parking spaces.
Planning documents show the proposed development may include plant rooms, chemical storage, a water pump room, a sprinkler pump room and a security cabin.
It is understood the proposed new factory will give Integer extra capacity in Galway. Several of the company’s existing staff will move to the facility when it is built.
It is further understood Integer’s new development is of a “similar scale” to the existing manufacturing facility.
Several sources involved in the construction industry with experience of developing similar sized projects in the sector said it could represent an investment of up to €100m.
Similar sized projects in other parts of the country have led to the creation of up to 700 construction jobs.
One source said Integer’s plan would create hundreds of badly needed construction jobs in the west of the country, should planning permission be approved.
In June, Integer, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a valuation of over $2.1bn (€1.78bn), announced it had completed the development of, and opened, The Galway Research and Development Innovation Centre. The facility, located in Claregalway, six km from Integer’s main Galway hub, is 8,500 sq ft and will be used to enhance the medical device cluster around the city and in Ireland.
In response to questions from the Sunday Independent, a spokesman for Integer said the company had a “long-standing commitment to support customers in the region”. The spokesman said Integer “continues to explore ways to further enhance the support it provides to customers locally”.
It did not respond to requests for comment on the value of the investment or how many jobs the new site could create.
The commitment from Integer is the latest sign of Ireland’s standing in the international medical device sector.
Ireland is one of Europe’s largest medical devices hubs, with more than 300 companies. The country is also the third-largest exporter of pharmaceuticals globally, according to the World Trade Organisation.
Pharmaceutical products and preparations accounted for two-fifths of the entire value of industrial goods produced in Ireland last year.
Integer’s facility at Parkmore West in Galway