Waterford has bagged itself a jobs boost with the news that eye-care company Bausch + Lomb is investing €75m in a new facility, creating 150 construction jobs and 125 full-time positions by the end of 2017.
The investment is being made to provide the Waterford facility with capacity to meet expected demand for its Biotrue ONEday range of contact lenses – construction should be completed by the end of next year.
Already employing around 1,000 people in Waterford, this announcement follows November’s €41m investement, which was to create 50 jobs – that’s still ongoing at the moment.
“Bausch + Lomb’s Waterford site will continue to play a very important role in our strategy to rebuild Bausch + Lomb as one of the leading contact lens producers,” said J. Michael Pearson, chairman and CEO of Valeant, which owns Baush + Lomb.
“The Waterford facility is a first-class site for contact lens manufacturing and distribution, and with the planned new contact lens manufacturing lines, the added capacity will support both current and future demand.”
Meanwhile, Angelo Conti, vice-president of Bausch + Lomb, claims the attitude of management and staff in Waterford played a large part in it committing to this investment, with GM of the Waterford site Damian Finn welcoming yet more commitment from the company.
IDA CEO Martin Shanahan commented: “IDA Ireland is fighting for investment in a fiercely competitive international environment. Today’s expansion is a good example of how IDA can work with companies to communicate the strengths of Waterford and the wider south-east region.
“The medical devices sector in Ireland continues to expand – we will be targeting more investment in this sector in the coming months.”
Contact lenses image, via Shutterstock
