Ireland to bear brunt of Pfizer site closures

FALLOUT continues from Pfizer's takeover of Wyeth as the world's largest drugs maker unveiled plans to axe 6,000 jobs over the next five years.

The group's acquisition of its smaller rival was completed in October and yesterday resulted in 18 per cent of its workforce facing redundancy. Pfizer outlined plans to close eight of its 78 manufacturing sites and cut jobs at six others.

Ireland faces the sharp edge of the axe, with three facilities closing and 785 posts being cut.

The closures are the latest in a series of bitter blows for the Irish economy, with big employers including Dell, GlaxoSmithKline and Aer Lingus all cutting staff in the past year.

Only one British plant – at Havant in Hampshire – faces job losses as part of the Pfizer cuts.

A spokeswoman for the firm said its business in Aberdeen – acquired when Wyeth bought Haptogen in 2007 – would be unaffected by the cutbacks.

Nat Ricciardi, Pfizer's president of manufacturing, said: "We're not announcing closures, we're announcing exits", adding he hopes Pfizer can sell some of the plants to owners that will continue to operate them.

Other plant closures will take place in Puerto Rico and the United States, with further cutbacks in Germany.

Pfizer said the timing of specific exits will depend upon the complexity of operations, the amount of time required for product transfers, and other business requirements.

Irish enterprise minister Batt O'Keeffe said the job losses were deeply regrettable.

He said he has called in the state's enterprise agencies to plan for retraining and re-employment for the workers.

"I have asked IDA Ireland to begin the search for other major players in the life science sector to take over the facilities in Loughbeg and Shanbally in Cork and Dun Laoghaire," O'Keeffe said.

"IDA Ireland has a strong track record in sourcing same-sector replacement industries for vacated facilities and I will be urging the agency to prioritise its endeavours in the cases of the plants in Cork and Dublin."

But Labour MEP Alan Kelly said the Pfizer job cuts raise serious questions about Ireland's "smart economy". He said: "If we cannot offer a future to companies like Pfizer then you would have to worry about the ability of the Irish economy to start growing again."

Despite the cuts, Pfizer will still employ about 4,200 staff in Ireland and a further 4,000 in the UK.