Over 300 jobs impacted by Offaly factory closure as SIPTU enters talks

WORKERS at the Cardinal Health manufacturing facility in Tullamore were shocked to be told the plant will be ceasing production, a union official said today.

Speaking after hearing from the company that it plans to shut its Srah operation by May of 2026, SIPTU industrial organiser Ashling Dunne said the announcement came “out of the blue”.

“People are gone away now to try and absorb and take in what they've been told and they're off work now for the next couple of days, but back to normal by Monday morning,” said Ms Dunne.

“Unfortunately Cardinal Health have taken the decision due to the discontinuation of a number of products and the movement of other products to different sites across America and Thailand that this site here is going to close. It's going to close on a phased basis, looking at potentially the first phase in or around April of 2025, with a closure date for May of 2026.”

She said there are about 280 SIPTU members working at the US-owned medical device manufacturer, with up to 60 other employees.

READ: "What can you do? I'm just glad that we have until next April to let it sink in."

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/1591228/breaking-hundreds-of-offaly-jobs-gone-as-factory-will-close-within-20-months.html

Ms Dunne would not comment on statements from some employees that Cardinal Health, a multinational which is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, will be offering a redundancy package of six weeks' pay per year of service, plus the two weeks of statutory redundancy.

“We have yet to go into consultation with the company so we're not at liberty to discuss anything at this present moment in time. Our priority at the end of the day is to try and make every effort to ensure that every stone is [turned] to see if there's any opportunity to save jobs, and as a worst case scenario, is there an opportunity for another employer to come in on this site.”

She revealed that when all staff were called into a meeting this morning at 10.30 to hear the announcement (pictured below), the question of worker relocation to other sites was asked: “There was no definitive answer in relation to that. The company are going to have a conversation around that. Again, that's probably something that will come out throughout the consultation process.”

Ms Dunne said the fact that “it's not an instant closure”, was certainly “very well received” by the workforce this morning.

A statutory 30-day information and consultation period will now begin and SIPTU will attempt to ascertain what opportunities “if any” there will be to save jobs.

Employees have said the company referred to cost pressures in Ireland and possible greater efficiencies in places like the US, Costa Rica and Mexico as reasons for the Tullamore closure.

Ms Dunne said she was not at liberty to discuss that issue but said: “There is a sense that there is movement and discontinuation of some products and a movement of some products. It's been a global decision, a decision that's been made at a much higher level.”

She assured workers that the union will work with the company throughout the entire process.

“The priority is to ensure that our members get the best possible outcome that we can for them. That is at the forefront of everything that we do here.”

In a statement, Cardinal Health said: “We plan to consolidate production from our Tullamore facility to other facilities within our self-manufacturing network in March of 2026. Commercial activities in Ireland will not be impacted by these plans. This decision is part of our regular assessment of our global business, manufacturing and supply chain operations to ensure we are able to meet the evolving needs of our customers, the industry and our business.”