THE Government has been ordered to redistribute more than €145 million in restructuring aid after the High Court found it had miscalculated the amount due to each party.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday criticised food conglomerate Greencore for refusing to honour Labour Court recommendations, saying the €4.4 million owed to workers should be paid “forthwith”.

Former workers at the recently closed sugar factories in Mallow and Carlow are staging a protest outside Greencore's head office in Dublin today.

MANAGEMENT at Greencore has threatened to withdraw bonus payments of up to €7,000 if former staff proceed with strike action at its north Cork plant tomorrow.

THE decision to give Greencore the bulk of the sugar industry compensation fund was a disgrace. Indeed it becomes even more shameful when one bears in mind other aspects of the sorry affair.

ONE of the biggest threats to the Mallow sugar factory being converted into an ethanol production plant is the fact that it is much cheaper to produce ethanol from wheat rather than sugar beet, officials from the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources have indicated.

GREENCORE has offered to look at any economic proposition for the location of biofuel production in Mallow, but has firmly ruled any direct involvement in the sector.

ONE of the men behind plans to develop the Republic’s first bio-diesel plant launched a strong defence of the project yesterday.

UNIONS at the country’s only remaining sugar factory in Mallow last night accused the Government of pandering to the needs of farmers as the firm closes with the loss of 324 jobs.

Ray Ryan, Agribusiness Correspondent