No discussion of job cuts at high-level meeting between Intel and government

Intel discussed the status of its Irish operation at a high-level meeting with the government earlier this year, but job cuts were not part of the conversation, the Business Post can confirm.

The chipmaker, which is reportedly planning a significant reduction in its headcount around the world, met Orlaigh Quinn, secretary general at the Department of Enterprise, in May to update her on energy issues facing the company.

Hugh Hardiman, Intel’s director of public affairs, spoke to Quinn to update her on “current Intel operations in Leixlip and discuss the current operating environment”.

Both Intel and the department declined to expand further on what happened at the meeting, but a government spokesman said it has not discussed job cuts with the group.

“The Department is in regular contact with companies investing in Ireland, mostly through its enterprise agencies IDA and Enterprise Ireland,” he said. IDA Ireland declined to comment when contacted.

The company is reportedly planning a major reduction in headcount around the world to cut costs and deal with a slowdown in the personal computer market.

It’s unclear if the cuts will affect Intel’s Leixlip manufacturing plant, which is in the process of being expanded as part of a multibillion-euro investment in Ireland.

A spokeswoman for Intel this week refused to comment on whether Intel’s Irish operation was likely to be impacted by the cuts, which the company has yet to confirm in any public capacity.

In March, Intel announced plans to invest a further €12 billion in expanding its operations in Ireland as part of an €80 billion EU-wide semiconductor investment package over the next decade.

That news came after the company confirmed that a centrepiece €17 billion investment in a “mega-fab” semiconductor plant – for which Ireland had been in the running – would instead be located in Germany.

IDA Ireland had offered the firm a 216-hectare site in Oranmore, Co Galway as a potential location for the new facility, which will bring 10,000 jobs with it.

It's understood Intel had significant concerns over Ireland’s creaking energy and water infrastructure. Those worries meant Ireland only ever had an outside chance of securing the new microchip plant, given the scale of the project.

Intel also had concerns about delays in the Irish planning system, and the rising number of judicial review cases being taken against planning decisions here.

Shortly after the company’s announcement, Pat Gelsinger, the chief executive of Intel, met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin where the two discussed the company’s EU investment plans, including further investment in the Leixslip site which would bring the total amount of investment there to €30 billion. According to records of the meeting obtained by the Business Post, Gelsinger thanked “the Taoiseach and Irish government for their ongoing support and highly competitive investment location the country continues to offer”.

Had Ireland been selected by Intel as the location for the new mega-fab plant, it would have been the single largest foreign investment in the history of the state.

The new plant would be significantly larger than Intel’s existing campus in Leixlip, Co Kildare. That plant is already one of the largest energy and water users in the country, consuming the same amount of water and electricity every year as Cork city.

Reporting: Business Post