State aid package aims to create 158 seafood sector jobs

ALMOST 160 jobs will be created in Ireland’s seafood processing sector over the next three years thanks to a special state investment package announced yesterday.

And a new task force has been set up to lead a pilot jobs initiative in Killybegs designed to create up to 250 jobs in the region’s seafood industry.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney made the announcements in Killybegs yesterday.

He said 18 seafood companies, who are ploughing 7.4 million into new equipment, have been approved for grant-aid totalling €1.7m.

The “processing scheme” is aimed at adding value to Irish seafood products, improving efficiency, and creating additional income and employment in the sector, he said.

“In total 158 new jobs will be created around the country and will be a huge boost to local economies, many in rural coastal communities,” he said.

Fastnet Mussels Ltd in Cork is investing in new capital equipment to produce value-added cooked mussel products.

Atlanfish Ltd in Donegal are developing a value-added processing area in order to increase production and broaden their product range.

Rockabill Shellfish Ltd in Dublin plan to increase production of value-added prawn products and improve efficiencies through the installation of energy efficient equipment.

The minister said the Killybegs jobs initiative has the potential to create 250 jobs in the area by 2014. It is being spearheaded by a group chaired by Sean O’Donoghue, CEO of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation; Jason Whooley CEO of BIM, Seamus Neely, Donegal county manager; Paul Hannigan, president of Letterkenny Institute of Technology; Conor Fahy of Enterprise Ireland; Niall O’Gorman of the Donegal Fish Merchants Association; Jim Parkinson, representing the offshore energy and ancillary industries; and Cecil Beamish from the Department of Agriculture.

The group will complete its work by the end of September and will report to the minister on the job creation potential.

The initiative has been launched as a result of an EU Commission economic study which assessed the status, development and potential diversification of Killybegs as a fisheries dependent community.

Mr Coveney said there needs to be greater integration and “joined-up thinking” from state agencies and stakeholders in the region if the full jobs potential is to be achieved. “The focus here is not on increased public expenditure but on leveraging better returns from the talent, resources and infrastructure of the Killybegs area,” he said.