An Israeli pharmaceutical company could be set to create more than 100 jobs in the Republic.
It was reported on an Israeli business website yesterday that Nasdaq-listed Taro Pharmaceutical Industries was considering transferring its manufacturing facility from Israel to the Republic.
The company is reported to have frozen new investments at home because of uncertainty about the Israeli tax situation. In particular, the website says, a $60 million (€61.8 million) expansion in the northern city of Haifa has been halted.
The Israeli government is currently considering changes to its tax system that would remove lucrative tax exemptions for companies such as Taro.
An IDA spokesman confirmed yesterday that discussions with Taro had taken place, but said they were still at an early stage.
"There isn't any firm decision," said the spokesman, adding that Taro was aware of the incentives that the IDA could offer for companies of its kind.
It is thought that Taro is seeking a location that could accommodate hundreds of staff. The company has researched various Irish locations, but is reportedly also looking at possible opportunities in Hungary, where a corporation tax rate of 18 per cent applies. From next January, the Republic's corporation tax rate will be 12.5 per cent.
Any resulting operation would be likely to include both high-level and production activities, a plan that fits well with IDA's professed strategy for future foreign direct investment wins.
A spokesman for Taro told The Irish Times that no decision to locate an operation in the Republic had as yet been made.
"I must tell you that nothing has been decided about expansion plans in Ireland," he said.
Taro makes generic and proprietary drugs as well as "over-the-counter" products, aimed at treating skin conditions, cardiac problems, epilepsy and other ailments.
The company was founded in 1950 by Israeli pharmacists and American physicians, led by the Levitt and Moros families. The name Taro is taken from the Hebrew words for "pharmaceutical industry".
