LEADING US medical devices company Boston Scientific has announced that it is to invest €21.7 million in a research, development and innovation (RDI) project at its Cork plant, where it currently employs 1,300 people.

Last year, Boston Scientific, which employs 5,000 people in Ireland, announced a €50 million RDI investment in its operation in Galway and just last month, it announced a further RDI investment at the Galway facility of €91 million.

Yesterday’s announcement brings to more than €160 million that the company, with the support of IDA Ireland, is investing its Irish operations.

Mark Paul, president of Boston Scientific’s neurovascular business, acknowledged the importance of Ireland to the company.

“We made a commitment years ago to start expanding our footprint here in Ireland from a manufacturing base,” Mr Paul said.

“That’s continued to grow and it really has become a world-class operation in the medical devices world from which we supply our products to 68 countries.”

Mr Paul said the Government’s strategy of creating centres of excellence, along with the skill sets of the Irish workforce, made Ireland attractive to industry and had resulted in Ireland acquiring an international reputation for successfully developing leading-edge products.

He added that the investment in developing the next generation of products, such as coils, intracranial stent delivery systems and access devices, would lead to the recruitment of extra staff, although he did not specify how many jobs would be created.

The announcement was welcomed by IDA Ireland board member Ger O’Mahoney, who said the investment by Boston Scientific reflected the enhanced capability of the Cork site for the development of next-generation products to treat neurovascular diseases of the brain.

“This investment by Boston Scientific is an enormous boost of confidence in the talent here at the Cork plant and it further endorses Ireland’s capability to support new generation research, development and innovation at the vanguard of minimally invasive products,” Mr O’Mahoney said.