Tullamore Medical Device Plant To Close Down By 2026

The company Cardinal Health has recently stated that it plans on closing the Tullamore Medical Device Plant by spring of the year 2026, a decision that will impact the lives of more than 320 employees.

For more than thirty years, the local residents had totally depended on the Tullamore medical device plant for their medical needs and this decision may be considered as a new and rather sad chapter in their lives.

The announcement was made this morning to staff and unions where the company said it had already ceased operations on the site.

In its response, Cardinal Health said that closing the Tullamore medical device plant is aimed at reconciling productions across its network around the world.

The company intends to decentralise production to other facilities within its self-made network, and relocating is expected to be accomplished by March 2026.

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According to a statement from Cardinal Health, the Ireland’s shutdown would not affect the firm’s business operations in the country.

The company explained that this is in line with continuous evaluation of its business across the globe to make it respond to changing customers’ needs and market trends.

But it is not the same for the employees and the local community in which the company exists.

Former employees, who were told earlier in the day that they would be laid-off, walked out of the meeting before 11:10 AM without speaking to the press.

The employees are said to have been given a package whereby they are allowed to go home with six weeks’ salary for every year served in the company, together with two weeks of statutory redundancy pay.

This package is meant to offer some kind of monetary help as the workers move to other employment opportunities.

Tullamore Medical Device Plant Closure Raises Concerns In The Community

SIPTU, the union representing 280 employees at the Tullamore plant, has confirmed that it is entering a 30-day consultation period with Cardinal Health.

SIPTU Industrial Organiser Ashling Dunne noted that the staff would be away from work for the rest of the week, with plans to return on Monday.

Dunne also mentioned that the decision to close the Tullamore medical device plant appears to be the part of a global strategy, with potential plans to relocate manufacturing to countries such as Costa Rica or Thailand.

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Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke, has expressed his commitment to working with Cardinal Health’s management and staff to explore current and future opportunities.

SIPTU, the union that represents 280 employees at the Tullamore medical device plant of Cardinal Health has revealed that it is to launch a 30-day consultation with the company. Ashling Dunne of the SIPTU industrial organiser said that they will be out of work for the rest of the week and plan to come back on Monday.

Dunne also said that the company has a long term strategy to close the Tullamore medical device plant, coupled with probabilities of outsourcing the plant to Costa RIca or Thailand.

Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke said he looks forward to meeting with the management and employees of Cardinal Health for exploring the existing and future prospects.

He also underlined that every endeavour would be made to provide other opportunities of employment to those people. Burke’s office has begun preliminary assessment on depressing the effects it might have on the local workforce and on other potential opportunities for the region.

Offaly County Council chairman has also been very much involved trying to find the ways and means of opening the future for the plant. He has been in communication with Management of IDA Ireland through his Personal Letter where he has been campaigning for the classification of the identification of another Employer to take over the said facility.

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IDA Ireland has reported the failure as an unfortunate event and has assured that it would not relent in its efforts to fight for the affected people and also search for other investors to take up the land.

The Tullamore medical device plant was created as Sherwood Medical in 1982 and was taken over by Flextronics in 2008 and is now the property of Cardinal Health. The facility at its maximum reach had been employing more than 600 employees and greatly impacted the economy of the region.

Nonetheless, the site has experienced some difficulties recently, including major dismissals in December 2012 and further continuing work on making workforce reduction agreements under voluntary redundancy.

Fianna, issued by the MEP Barry Cowen, has termed the closure as a major set back to the local economy.

Cowen has demanded that immediate steps be taken to bring forward suitable land for future enterprise and industrial development stating that the current industrial facility in Tullamore, proved out. He has called for a recent meeting with Minister Burke and Minister of State Dara Calleary to consider possible options and for the provision of assistance to the area.

Laois/Offaly Fine Gael TD, Charlie Flanagan, said the move will go down as a ‘black day for Tullamore,’ clearly pointing to the level of concern of the local people.

Cardinal Health has shut down its Tullamore medical device plant —the people involved have lost their jobs but it signifies a major problem in the future economy of the region.

While unions’ representatives and other stakeholders discuss ramifications of this decision, the authorities at various tiers work hard to support the affected workers and look for ways of reviving the Tullamore area.