Focus on pharma: Up to 26,000 jobs to be created over next five years as sector booms

Pharmaceuticals industry central to our economic success, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke has said

Pharmaceutical exports hit almost €9bn last January. Stock image

Caoimhe Gordon

The biopharma sector employs more than 50,000 people directly here, according to the latest figures, and this number is only expected to rise.

In all, there are more than 85 multinational and indigenous companies active in Ireland, said a recent report from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), which advises the ­Government.