Surgical masks on a production line.
Image: © REC Stock Footage/Stock.adobe.com

Harmac to create 60 jobs in Roscommon to meet PPE demand

8 Dec 2020

Harmac Medical Products will create 60 jobs at its facility in Castlerea to accelerate production of face masks and other PPE.

With demand for critical PPE ever-present during the Covid-19 pandemic, Harmac Medical Products has announced plans for a major investment at its facility in Castlerea, Co Roscommon.

This will see the medical devices manufacturer create 60 new jobs at the site and accelerate the production of its surgical masks and other products. The company is now seeking employees in the areas of engineering, quality and manufacturing.

The expansion is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

The Roscommon facility was opened in 1998 and currently employs more than 300 people. The site was opened to allow US-headquartered Harmac to meet the demands of its international client base and serve as a supplier to the Irish and European operations of a number of medtech companies.

The site performs functions including design for reliability and manufacturability, prototyping, automation, custom assembly operations, cleanroom injection moulding, product re-engineering and R&D functions.

Harmac said that in addition to surgical masks, the expansion will also help it ramp up its manufacturing of non-invasive ventilation devices for intersurgical respiratory systems, increasing its output to meet unprecedented rising global demand.

A major Roscommon employer

“Harmac’s Castlerea campus has class-leading capabilities, allowing us to collaborate with customers from a design, engineering, tooling and manufacturing standpoint to ensure that projects are brought online as aggressively as possible,” said Harmac Ireland’s managing director, Mick McEnroe.

“It’s a major differentiator between us and our competitors, and it’s very inspiring to be able to help customers under these circumstances.”

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade & Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, added that this expansion is “great news from one of Roscommon’s biggest employers”.

“These 60 new jobs will greatly accelerate the company’s response to the pandemic, significantly increasing production of masks and ventilation products,” he said.

IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan added: “Since 1998, Harmac has been a committed employer in the west region and can be assured of IDA Ireland’s continued support.”

Colm Gorey
By Colm Gorey

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic. He joined in January 2014 and covered AI, IoT, science and anything that will get us to Mars quicker. When not trying to get his hands on the latest gaming release, he can be found lost in a sea of Wikipedia articles on obscure historic battles and countries that don't exist any more, or watching classic Simpsons episodes far too many times to count.

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