Free zone companies paid over €7m in grants last year

INTEL Shannon Ltd received over €3 million in industry grant payments in 2010 according to the Shannon Development annual report.
The report, published last week showed that in total, companies at the free zone received just over €7.52m in grant payments last year.
Over the years, Intel has received over €6m in grants. After Intel, Zimmer Orthopedics received most last year, a sum of €1m. Zimmer, which announced it would be opening a plant in 2008, had received payment of €2,409,711 by the end of last year.
Element Six Ltd were granted €357,000 last year, bringing total payments to them to €5,807,682. Bustec Production Ltd was granted €300,000 last year, bringing total payments to them to €872,559. Shannon Aerospace received grant payments of €144,318, bringing total payments to the company to €44,596,223.
The report also showed that employment in both manufacturing and services at the free zone declined slightly last year.
It estimates that the cost per job in companies assisted by Shannon Development in the free zone last year was €7,552.
While overall employment at the free zone declined by 4% last year, the number of companies there actually went. At the launch of the report, Dr Vincent Cunnane, Shannon Development CEO, said retaining companies is always very important. “If you lose companies, it’s very hard to get them back. Eighty odd per cent of the job losses were due to downsizing and that’s important. We started off with 100 companies and we ended up with 101. It’s very important that those job losses were reflected in downsizing rather the in losing companies. We did see some encouraging things, a growth in terms of indigenous companies and that reflects our own activities, we have identified indigenous companies for growth in the free zone and we’re starting to see the results of that.”
He also noted that changes have been made in how grant aid can be distributed. “Since January 1, there has been a change that allows the Mid-West Region to give grants to larger companies of around 10% in capital or employment grants. Up until January 1, we had a distinct disadvantage vis a vis the Border, Midlands and West Region, which could offer 20% in grants and this region could give zero. Now we’ve gone to 10% and the BMW Region is 15%. That 5% differential can be bridged by other attributes we have and we’re starting to see the impact,” he concluded.