Plant expansion plan ‘to help consolidate Liebherr position’

A MAJOR expansion at the Liebherr (Ireland) Ltd plant in Killarney will help consolidate the company’s position in the area, according to the German-owned firm.

Kerry County Council has given planning permission for a 17,000 square metre production building, as well as office and storage buildings measuring 1,500 square metres. The company, which manufactures container cranes for the international market, has been in Killarney since 1958. It has a workforce of around 500 people and is the area’s biggest industrial employer.

Liebherr director Pat O’Leary said, while the expansion may not necessarily mean more jobs, it was vital for the consolidation of the huge Killarney plant.

The long-term future of the Liebherr group in Killarney depended on the new building which would allow the company to increase production capacity. He also said the company might have considered downsizing its Kerry operations if planning had not been granted.

The alternative for the multinational company would have been to construct the building at one of its sites in northern Germany and, thereby, move some of its container crane manufacturing away from Ireland, Mr O’Leary said.

He said Liebherr had to maximise efficiencies “to survive against increasingly aggressive global competition” and to produce faster and larger cranes. Many of the Killarney-manufactured cranes are operating in ports around the world.

The expansion which almost double the Killarney plant’s floor space will be at the eastern side of the plant.