'The canary in the mine' - US tariff threat impacts Offaly firm
At a trade forum in Dublin today, Tánaiste Simon Harris will say US tariffs of 10% on exports from Ireland will be the "new normal" but that efforts are continuing to agree zero for zero taxes in some key areas.
The meeting takes place a week before the scheduled lifting of a pause on higher tariffs by US President Donald Trump.
The forum will also receive an economic assessment of the impact of tariffs from Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.
At Elis Cleanroom in Co Offaly, they describe themselves as "the canary in the mine".
It is, according to the sales manager Bernard Flynn, "a good barometer of what is happening in the industry".
The company, which has a base in Birr, Co Offaly, and in Glanmire, Co Cork, provides specialist laundry services, both sterile and non-sterile, to companies which work in controlled environments, including the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.
"Our service is a very vital service to the pharma and medical device sector so we're right there at the core," Mr Flynn said.
"If they sneeze, we get a cold, essentially.
"So we need to, or we would like to know, what's going to happen and we would like some stability and some certainty".
In the cleanroom section of the business, Elis employs 100 people, while overall, the company employs around 1,300 people in Ireland.
"For last ten years we've had double digit growth," said Mr Flynn.
He added that to continue growing, more customers are needed.
"Year on year, it's been fantastic but the big news now is there has been no news and by that, I mean we've had no announcements of new builds in the last ten months.
"We currently have two brownfield sites being built - Astellas in Tralee, Co Kerry, and Dexcom in Athenry, Co Galway. Outside of that, there have been absolutely no announcements.
"At the moment, things are holding steady but we would like to see a stimulus, something to help us and to give us some clarity, because we're part of a bigger organisation."
Without growth, Mr Flynn said, investment is uncertain.
"Elis is a worldwide organisation, and we have to report back. We get investment based on the future and the growth of the company.
"We've had great investment, year on year on year, but we need to be able to show that there's something coming in the future, in order to continue that investment into our two plants here.
"There's nothing as bad as not knowing."
He added that the industry hopes Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will work with them to work out the tariffs, whatever they may be.
"We need to work to help reduce the costs for companies and be part of the conversation, so that we can continue to keep employment going," he said.
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