€20m ‘one-stop shop’ for seafood sector begins

THE foundation stone for a new €20 million office complex for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Bord Iascaigh Mhara was laid in Clonakilty, Co Cork, yesterday by Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan.

Work on constructing the 6,500sqm complex is under way on a three-acre site and is due for completion in March 2009. The complex will accommodate 180 civil and public servants on completion and will result in a €9m payroll injection into the local economy.

In addition to accommodating the fisheries and aquaculture divisions of the new department and BIM, the complex will also accommodate a new seafood development centre.

This will support product development and market-led innovation in the seafood sector and is designed, in line with the Government’s Seafood Development Strategy, to increase added value in the sector.

Upwards of 160 people will be employed directly on the site during the construction phase with substantial additional off-site employment also being generated.

Minister Coughlan said the creation of the new state-of-the- art integrated one-stop shop for the seafood sector will greatly assist in providing an improved quality and range of services to the industry, enabling it to move forward in line with the Government’s overall strategy for the sector.