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Seán Sherlock T.D., Minister for Research and Innovation, today [Wednesday] said he was very disappointed at today’s announcement of job losses at the at the Pfizer manufacturing facilities in Little Island and Ringaskiddy, Cork.

Minister Sherlock said: ‘Today’s announcement will come as a severe blow to the workers and their families. The focus now is to ensure maximum support and assistance for those workers affected by this announcement.

"Clearly I very much regret the scale of job loses announced. However I welcome the company’s continued commitment to Ireland and I am optimistic that Pfizer will continue to develop new products which will ensure the future of Pfizer jobs in Cork and in their other Irish locations.

Minister Sherlock highlighted the importance of the pharmaceutical sector as a major employer in Ireland

with a total of approximately 25,000 people employed in high-paid jobs. The number of people employed in the sector increased by 1400 in 2011 and in the first six months of 2012 alone, Ireland has won a number of key investments in the Pharma and Biopharma sectors: 200 jobs in Allergan, 175 jobs in Abbott, 200 jobs in Eli Lilly, 500 jobs in Mylan, 100 jobs in Amgen.

"The Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2012 has identified a number of actions to attract and grow investment in life science, particularly in the pharma and biopharma areas. I believe that with this focus we can be optimistic for the future growth of this sector in Ireland" concluded Minister Sherlock.