Intel produces microprocessors, which are the ‘brain’ of a computer and are needed for all computer functions. Te company moved to Ireland in 1989, where they converted a 360-acre site in Leixlip, Co. Kildare into a €12.5 billion technologically advanced manufacturing plant. Te site at Collinstown Industrial Park employs 4500 workers, most of whom have a third-level degree.
: Fig. 22.15 Intel Campus in Leixlip, Co. Kildare
Intel is closely linked to UCD and TCD and sponsors many masters programmes. In March 2014, Intel announced a €5 billion campus upgrade, which will provide further employment opportunities. As with all companies who locate in Ireland, Intel benefits from our 12.5 per cent corporation tax, which is much lower than our European counterparts, e.g. Great Britain has a 28 per cent corporation tax. In 2016, Intel announced that it would be reducing its global workforce by 12 000 (11 per cent of its total). Some 10 per cent of these jobs are to be cut in Ireland.
Pfizer Pfizer
is
a biotechnology company
that produces medicines and vaccines. Located in Grange Castle, Clondalkin, the company employs more than 1200 people in the GDA, 97 per cent of whom have a third-level degree. In 2012, the company invested €145 million, which generated 400 new jobs. It is now one of the largest biotechnological manufacturing plants in the world.
