Possibility of saving 100 jobs at Molex

THERE are hopes that a substantial number of the 500 redundancies at Shannon company Molex might yet be avoided.

It is understood that a particular section of the Shannon plant has been particularly successful in recent times.

The section in question provides products that are bought mainly by medical device company Aerogen, which has a base in Galway.

According to Molex employees, around 100 staff have been working in this area and revenue in the region of €1.5 million per month has been coming in. If production of the items required by Aerogen is moved away from Shannon, it is likely to cause huge disruption for the Galway company. It is understood that the possibility of them being supplied with product from another Irish site has been raised but Aerogen management are said to be uneasy about such a move.

On Wednesday, Patrick Power, director of business development with Aerogen, acknowledged that the closure of the Shannon plant would create complications. “It’s a very complex situation and we’re looking at all the various options available to us; no decisions have been made on any of it. It’s a huge decision for us to make and we’re a long way away from making a decision on it.”

Mr Power said that they have been in discussions with Molex about the matter. “You can probably appreciate that a medical device company doing anything with their suppliers is extremely complex. It’s not a quick decision or a quick process for us. We’re working extremely closely with Molex because they’ve been a great partner to us for the last several years. There are a lot of high-level meetings going on with them.”

Shannon Municipal District Councillor PJ Ryan said he is hopeful that with the right supports, some of the jobs can be saved. “It couldn’t happen without the IDA because I gather that the people who own Molex own the building, so I suppose there would have to be a deal done there. But the possibility of keeping 100 jobs, with the possibility of building from there, there would be nothing wrong with that.”

Owen Ryan