US biotechnology company Amgen has agreed to reimburse Cork County Council for €6 million worth of work carried out for the company at a site in Carrigtwohill where it had planned to open a plant.
Cork county manager Martin Riordan told councillors the council had spent nearly €20 million on water, waste-water and surface drainage works in Carrigtwohill, but only €6 million of this was spent on works "for Amgen and Amgen alone".
He said the other expenditure on water and the sewerage system would benefit the Carrigtwohill area, adding that Amgen's decision to locate in Carrigtwohill had helped the council to speed up the securing of national funding for local infrastructure.
A council spokeswoman confirmed that some €5 million of the €6 million was spent on water and waste-water, with the remaining €1 million spent on improvements to the N25 which adjoins the site where Amgen had intended investing $1 billion.
Mr Riordan told yesterday's council meeting that while the council was very disappointed with Amgen's decision to postpone indefinitely the planned 1,100-job plant, the council would proceed with work necessary to improve the N25 in the area.
He said this would involve the council continuing with its preparation for an interchange and overbridge as the National Roads Authority was ready to begin buying the necessary land through compulsory purchase order.
He also confirmed that Amgen's decision would have no impact on Iarnród Éireann's proposed reopening of the Midleton rail line. The council was continuing to collect development levies in areas adjacent to the line which would help fund the work.
Mr Riordan was responding to questions from councillors over concerns that the council might end up footing the bill for Amgen preparatory site works
Yesterday's debate was marred by angry exchanges. Sinn Féin councillor Martin Hallinan accused Fianna Fáil of "an election gimmick" in saying in the run-up to the general election that the project was coming to Carrigtwohill when the warning signs were evident last April that the company was experiencing difficulty.
However, the Fianna Fáil leader on the council, Alan Coleman, said everyone knew that Amgen had some difficulty securing approval for its drugs, but both the Government and the IDA took the company's assurances that it would not affect the Cork project at face value.
