Eli Hurvitz, Chairman of the Board of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., Israel Makov, President and CEO, Dan S. Suesskind CFO, and Shlomo Yanai, designated President and CEO, preside over the Market Open Wednesday February 21, 2007 at NASDAQ's MarketSite in New York City.

Teva, the Israeli-owned pharmaceutical group today announced that 315 jobs would be cut at its Waterford plant because of the high-cost environment. In 2008, the Irish Government announced plans for 165 new jobs at the facilities in Waterford.

In March 2008, IVAX Pharmaceuticals Ireland, a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd,  (NASDAQ: TEVA) announced that it had commenced an investment programme totalling €65 million in its facility in Waterford, Ireland, and that it was creating an additional 165 new jobs over five years. Teva has three pharmaceutical plants and a research and development facility on its Waterford campus.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. acquired the IVAX Waterford business as part of its acquisition of the IVAX Corporation in January 2006.

In addition to its three manufacturing plants, the Waterford campus also includes a research and development facility with some 70 staff, most of whom work on the development of respiratory products for the treatment of respiratory diseases. 

The Waterford plant manufactures inhalers and tablets. It is reported that tablet production will cease at the factory within 12 months.

Teva is one of the biggest pharmaceutical employers in the south-east where it employs a total of 730 workers.

Teva said the redundancies will be a mixture of voluntary and compulsory and details of redundancy packages have not yet been released.

In a statement, the firm said it took the decision was "due to the challenges of operating in a high cost and difficult economic environment in Ireland."

It is understood much of the manufacturing of tablets currently being made in Waterford, will be transferred to a factory the company has in Hungary.

Georgia-Pacific jobs to go

In Dublin, Georgia-Pacific, a manufacturer of paper, packaging and building products, says it plans cutbacks and a restructuring of its business in Finglas in Dublin. It plans to cut 77 jobs.

The company's managing director in Ireland, Hugh McGlasson, said its cost base in Ireland was "unsustainable" for current market conditions, and was making the company uncompetitive.

"We need to act now to consolidate parts of our network and safeguard the viability of our business," he added.

It said a consultation process was now under way, but if its plans were implemented, the redundancies would take place between February and July next year. The company currently employs 132 people in Ireland.