Minister of State for Skills, Research & Innovation, Damien English TD along with Dr Volker Rehrmann, Executive Vice President and Head of TOMRA Sorting, and Maurice Moynihan, local Managing Director and Market Director TOMRA Sorting Food officially opens TOMRA Sorting’s new state of the art facility in Citywest, Dublin. The new centre of excellence is set to improve the research and development capabilities of its food sorting and peeling business.
The investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.
The Dublin office is responsible for the development of whole product sorting and peeling equipment that increases yield, productivity and enhances food safety for the global food industry. This is a highly competitive market space where innovation and long term partnerships are critical for success. TOMRA Sorting in Dublin provide highly skilled jobs in the high tech sector hiring many specialised individuals with Higher Degrees, Master’s, and Doctorates. Tomra also work closely with universities and sponsor Master’s Programme students as well as providing work experience for a multiple students each year in a dynamic workplace.
The investment in the new centre of excellence stands at approximately €2.1 million and includes office, workshop and demonstration space as well as a peeling process development lab and an advanced optics lab and a sorting test facility.
Minister Damien English TD, speaking at the launch of the TOMRA facility, said he was very impressed by the new Research Centre, as it was confirmation of the Government’s commitment to encourage Research and Development in companies based here. The provision of high-quality jobs for well qualified Irish people in the wider food sector is a key priority and he praised the investment by the company as a vote of confidence in Ireland and its skilled workforce.
“The investment in our new premises allows us to capitalise on the significant investment made by TOMRA in R&D whilst also proving much improved work areas for our people. The new work space promotes the highest levels of collaboration and creativity where the flow of ideas can happen naturally in a bright and comfortable environment supporting greater innovation and efficiency” said Maurice Moynihan.
Dr Volker Rehrmann said “Our investment in the new facility will enable the Dublin team to concentrate on developing innovative solutions for the global food industry and continue to set TOMRA aside as the market leader in sensor based sorting solutions. TOMRA is also committed to providing a truly great place to work for all our 2,400 employees worldwide”.
Dermot Clohessy, Executive Director, IDA Ireland said “Today’s announcement by TOMRA is a welcome boost to Ireland’s technology and innovation ecosystem. It provides further evidence that Ireland is a highly attractive location to carry out sophisticated research and development initiatives. IDA Ireland looks forward to continuing to work closely and support Tomra in the future.’’
TOMRA Sorting Ltd. today employs 60 people at our site in Citywest. Since the acquisition in 2011, TOMRA has created approximately 28 highly skilled jobs in Ireland.