200 jobs coming on stream for forklift company

Up to 200 jobs are to be created as part of a €40m expansion of Co Monaghan forklift manufacturer Combilift.

The jobs are to be created over the next five years, as the company invests in a new factory which is to be built over the next two years.

The project is being supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will help Combilift double its €150m turnover over the next five years.

The company employs more than 300 people in Monaghan town and Clontibret. It was set up by Martin McVicar and Robert Moffett in 1998 and exports to more than 75 countries.

“Irish companies like Combilift have huge potential to drive employment growth in regional locations, and tend to have even greater impact on the local economy through knock-on spending than multinationals due to their links with the area,” said Jobs Minister Richard Bruton.

A further 110 jobs will be created in Dublin and Laois as Topaz invests €10m in two new stations. A total of 45 jobs will be in its newest service station at Clonshaugh in Dublin, while a Supermacs fast food outlet is also opening at the site, creating 20 jobs. Some 65 jobs will be created with the opening of a motorway site on Monday in Ballacolla, Co Laois.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed giving Ireland €2.5m to help the former workers in Lufthansa Technik Airmotive. The Lufthansa plant, which was based in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, closed in early 2014 with the loss of 424 jobs. The money, which is part of the European Globalisation Fund, would help 250 former employees to find jobs.

Under new rules, the money can also go to help 200 young unemployed Irish people to get into work or training under the EU’s Youth Employment Initiative. The scheme would be co-financed by the Government with a €4.1m package.