Presentation by Dr. Ian Jones, CEO, Innopharma Labs to the Oireachtas Joint
Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation - Tuesday 3rd November 2015
Introduction to Innopharma Labs
Innopharma Labs is an award-winning Irish technology and training company.
We operate an R&D budget of over €8 million in collaboration with multiple international academic
institutions and industries, and sell these process analytical technologies globally to the
pharmaceutical, food and fine chemical sectors.
We are also one of the country’s leading providers of innovative training programmes in the
pharmaceutical, food technology and medical devices industries. We employ 27 full time staff and
over 40 associate lecturers and industry professionals all over Ireland. Our courses run nationwide in
Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Athlone and along the east coast.
Through the Springboard and Momentum initiatives, over 2,000 people have completed our
upskilling and training programmes since 2010 which have focussed on providing in-demand
industry skills. Over 70% of participants have returned to employment within six months of
completion of their programme, proving that Innopharma Labs’ specifically recruited team and jobscentric approach succeeds.
What is the opportunity for Ireland?
The economy is recovering with the private sector creating jobs. However a gap has emerged in
providing necessary qualified personnel in Ireland’s Science, Technology and Engineering sectors,
particularly the burgeoning pharmaceutical, food technology and medical devices industries. The
positions are, and will be, available but major companies in Ireland struggle to fill these with Irish
graduates and Irish workers at present. Attracting appropriately skilled labour internationally, if
available, can be expensive and prohibitive based on recruitment, relocation costs and the global
shortage of such STEM skill sets. It is also leading to the outsourcing of significant activities to other
countries such as Engineering Facility Design and Management of Facility Start up activities, in
addition to commissioning, qualification and validation services. This skills deficit is a risk to the
accelerated growth currently experienced by these industries and will have an impact on future FDI
decisions in the Life Science Sector.
There is also a consensus that Ireland needs to increase its output of STEM graduates over the next
five years (Further Education and Training Strategy 2014-2019; SOLAS, 2014) and anchor our current
graduates in Ireland in order to meet the needs of technology and science driven companies. In
addition, there is a desire to introduce an early warning system that would highlight ‘at risk’ jobs in
the recovering economy and to react accordingly with, for example, cross-skilling initiatives.
There is a requirement to implement a nationwide approach to ensure there is a nationwide
economic recovery.
What is the solution?
Innopharma Labs proposes the expansion of an agile third-level education fund rapidly reacting to
industry skills needs and upskilling for the unemployed and ‘at-risk’ employed in Ireland through
evaluating learning outcomes to meet current and future industry needs. These projects should
focus on:
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enabling the long term unemployed, particularly those under-25, and recently
unemployed, to return to work through up-skilling.
enabling those in ‘at-risk’ sectors to cross-skill to more stable and value-adding sectors.
Increasing the number of STEM based graduates (and help meet national STEM targets)
through cross-skilling these ‘at-risk’ participants with STEM skills.
enabling emmigrants to return to Ireland through providing up-skilling/bridging services.
providing a rich supply of skill sets and human capital necessary to maintain the up-turn in
high-tech manufacturing in Ireland over the next 5 years and beyond.
reacting to specific industry skill set needs in a rapid and flexible manner.
Some components of this agile and nationwide third level up-skilling are currently funded through
the Springboard and other similar up-skilling initiatives. This could potentially continue to be the
vehicle for funding such initiatives – with an expansion of its responsibilities.
Regional jobs
Crucially, the jobs secured by Innopharma Labs trainees are located throughout Ireland, supporting
balanced regional development:
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In the last year alone over 600 people trained by Innopharma Labs found jobs in high-end
manufacturing that otherwise would have remained unemployed
These 600 jobs are not just based in Dublin but nationwide:
Galway: 80 jobs
Limerick/Mid-west: 32 jobs
East Coast (including Dublin): 380
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Cork 33 jobs
Westmeath/Roscommon 25 jobs
Other regions: 50
Many of these 600 jobs went to job seekers who were long-term unemployed.
Many of these 600 jobs would not have been filled through other approaches as they were
attained through networking events and support from the Innopharma Labs industry liaison
team.
Exchequer savings
In terms of savings to the Exchequer: assuming an annual student up-skilling number of 10,000
participants, an average saving to the exchequer per unemployed participant of €15,000 and an
average starting salary of €30,000, there will be a direct net saving to the Exchequer of €120 million
over five years in reduced social welfare payment, increased PAYE payments (depending on the ratio
of long term unemployed, recently unemployed and ‘at-risk’ employed) and continued industry
investment in Ireland.
Responding to industry’s needs
With student coaches supporting the participants, industry experts delivering the training and
industry liaison specialists engaging with companies on a daily basis, we have developed a tailormade team for successful up-skilling.
Innopharma Labs’ training programmes are designed in conjunction with industry (such as United
Drug, GlaxoSmithKline, BMS, Nypro, Becton Dickinson, Lake Region Medical, Mondelez and Dairy
Gold) as well as representative bodies like PharmaChemical Ireland - Ibec. This means that the
programmes meet the needs of industry. This is one of the reasons behind the huge success rate for
graduates in finding employment.
In fact, with 70% of graduates finding employment
within 6 months of programme completion,
Innopharma Labs is not only delivering for industry
but helping create jobs, particularly for those in
long term unemployment.
For example in Limerick a recent up-skilling
programme with a focus on long-term
unemployment has realised a ‘back-to-work’ result
of over 70%, with graduates who were previously
unemployed between 18 months and 6 years
(some since the Dell closures in 2009) are now
working in high value roles within the local
MedTech sector, in companies like Teleflex
Medical, Vistakon, Beckman Coulter and Reagecon.
The programmes range from Level 6 (Certificate) all
the way up to Level 9 (Masters Level) and are
accredited in partnership with ITT, Dublin and
Griffith College. From the initial programme design, student recruitment, intensive training all the
way up to taking up employment, the programmes are designed to support ‘job readiness’. Work
preparation, student coaching and industry engagement are integral components of the
programmes.
ENDS
Comments of Dr. Ian Jones, CEO, Innopharma Labs to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on
Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
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