*Photograph: Brian Arthur
ANALOG DEVICES is to triple its European wafer production capacity and create 600 jobs in a €630m investment in a research, development and manufacturing plant in Limerick.
Production capacity will be boosted at the new 45,000sq ft facility in Limerick. The Massachusetts-based firm makes chips that are used for industrial robots, 5G telecommunications equipment and automobiles. It has been located at Raheen Business Park, its European headquarters, since the mid-1970s.
An addition of 600 jobs will bring Analog’s total workforce in Ireland to over 2,000 people. The move follows a similar €100 million investment that ADI announced last year in a facility for innovation and collaboration.
Speaking about the investment, Analog Devices Ireland chief executive and chair Vincent Roche said: “Since 1976, Ireland has been a critical innovation center for ADI, thanks to its strong academic and research organizations, business ecosystem, and progressive government leadership. This next-generation semiconductor manufacturing facility and expanded R&D team will further extend ADI Limerick’s global influence. Through organic R&D and close collaboration with our customers and ecosystem partners, we are striving to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges and enable a more efficient, safer, and sustainable future”.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (FG) said the announcement was “really significant”. He stated, “This massive €630 million investment is great news for local employment with lots of jobs being created during the construction phase, and 600 high-end graduate jobs. It means a significant expansion in the size and scale of ADI’s research, innovation, and development, leading to new, highly innovative products. This investment will also mean lots of spin-off jobs and contracts for local SMEs and Irish-owned businesses. The future is digital. There can be no such future without microchips and it’s great that Ireland is such an important player in the supply chain”.
