NSAI closes its medical-device division, cutting up to 20 jobs

Ireland's state standards body NSAI is closing its medical device testing and certification division, with up to 20 staff to be made redundant. According to the Department of Enterprise the board took the closure decision on 30 July 2026; the union Unite was only informed at the end of the following week. The announcement landed in the middle of an industrial dispute: staff in the section were already working to rule over a previously planned compulsory redundancy of one clinician. Unite considers the use of compulsory redundancy by a public sector employer unprecedented in recent times and points to already heavily reduced staffing that had created a backlog of work. Talks between the authority's management and the union were expected the following week. Update (31.08.2026): According to a regulatory services firm, NSAI plans to transfer its medical devices unit to an established testing, inspection and certification organisation rather than simply wind it down; no buyer has been named (Advena, 31.08.2026: https://www.advenaltd.eu/2026/08/nsai-to-withdraw-from-medical-device-certifications/).