IFA Welcomes Enterprise Ireland Support for Glanbia Project
IFA President John Bryan has welcomed the announcement by Enterprise Ireland and GIIL that their major expansion project in Belview would benefit from Government supported investment through Enterprise Ireland.
He said he was particularly pleased to hear that the support was in the clear understanding that the Belview project was ‘a scaleable facility which will provide for further collaboration in the industry’.
“I have met with the leaders of co-ops, to encourage them to maximise joint projects and investment. Farmers will simply not tolerate any duplication of processing facilities or wasteful use of their scarce resources,” he said.
IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Kevin Kiersey added: “It is clear that the Belview project construction will make a significant contribution to the local and national economy. We in IFA have shown that the entire dairy sector can deliver up to 9,500 extra jobs and €1.3b extra annual export revenue by 2020 if it is allowed to deliver to its full Food Harvest 2020 potential”.
“We would encourage Government to adopt the innovative taxation proposals which have been presented by IFA in the last 12 months. Our proposals would help co-ops secure some of the funding required through a BES-type tax relieved loan scheme, open to farmers and non-farmers alike. In addition to Enterprise Ireland investment support, these would promote growth and collaboration among all co-ops, for the greater good of the Irish economy at local and national level,” he concluded.
