€168m boost to slaughter sector

A €168 MILLION investment in beef and sheep slaughtering facilities is expected to boost Irish exports by €400 million and support 800 extra jobs by 2012.

Yesterday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced details of 15 capital investment projects, which have been awarded Government grant assistance of more than €69m under the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s Beef and Sheepmeat Investment Fund.

“The grant-aid is expected to contribute to an actual investment in projects in the region of €168m and the investments are expected to increase net sales and exports by €400m and ensure a net expansion in employment, with over 800 additional jobs being provided by 2012 when the investment package is due to be completed,” a government spokesman said yesterday.

The Taoiseach said: “In providing over €69m in grant assistance, the Government would stimulate the necessary investment in the sector to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the industry in Ireland.

“This is a multi-annual investment package and grant assistance will be paid over a number of years.”

Ireland’s beef and sheepmeat industries have an annual turnover of €3bn, exports of €2bn and account for more than 20% of Irish food and drink exports. The beef industry has changed from dependence in the early 1990s on intervention to one where 97% of output is sold on European, mainly fresh/chilled markets. This has involved investment in quality, standards, market development and promotion.

The industry employs 10,000 directly, processing the output of 100,000 beef and sheep farmers.

The Taoiseach congratulated the companies which have been successful in their application to the highly competitive Investment Fund but Mr Cowen stressed that investment on the scale of almost €170m would not happen without grant support.

A Government spokesman said each application for the Beef and Sheepmeat Investment Fund was carefully considered and all eligible projects were assessed and evaluated according to strict commercial and technical criteria by an expert committee comprising members from Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Bord Bia, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, private industry and an academic expert.

An Taoiseach also commended Enterprise Ireland for its continued role in effectively managing the fund on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.