South-East to get €500m-a-year economic shot
A total of 76 jobs will be available at the Glanbia plant with hundreds more created on farms and other indirect enterprises.
About 450 jobs will come through the construction of the dairy plant at Belview which straddles Waterford City and Co Kilkenny.
The Government has described it as the most significant employment announcement this year and a huge boost for jobs in the South-East.
It is envisaged the local economy will benefit by up to €500m a year in an ambitious world-class dairy project funded by Glanbia Ingredients Ireland Ltd with support from Enterprise Ireland.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the development would be a huge bonus for the region and provide “careers, opportunities, hope, and confidence”.
Glanbia CEO Jim Bergin said the facility had been planned for two years. It will include 23,000m of piping and produce 19m litres of milk per week.
At least half the jobs will be created by spring 2015 when the facility begins production. All jobs will come on board by 2018.
Mr Bergin also denied there was any “spin” about the real numbers of jobs that would be created, pointing to an investment by the company of €150m.
Simon Coveney, the agriculture minister, described the jobs announcement as “the most significant of the year”. The agri-food sector, he said, was one of the most exciting parts of the Irish economy at present.
He said the Irish dairy sector has plans to increase milk production by 50% over the coming years which will be helped by the abolition of milk quotas by the EU in May 2015. The extra need for milk production would see increases in cattle herd sizes and therefore more workers on farms and in related enterprises.
Mr Coveney conceded the recent bad weather, coupled with last summer’s difficult conditions, had “dented” the confidence of farmers. However, he was sure the production of milk could be increased, particularly to meet the demands for milk products from countries such as China.
Richard Bruton, the jobs minister, said the Government would not reveal how much financial aid had been given for the jobs, saying it was a commercial matter.
A number of local TDS welcomed the jobs news. Labour’s Ciara Conway said: “This announcement will also assist young people in rural communities and encourage them to embrace a future in agriculture but, as well, it will create new opportunities in areas like farm management.”
The plant will be entirely focused on export markets and will supply a range of nutritional milk powders to a number of regions including the Middle East, Africa, Central America, and Asia.
