Bord na Mona's debt is cleared

Bord na Mona's debt has been cleared with an injection of £8 million in Exchequer equity into the company, the Minister for Public Enterprise has announced. Ms O'Rourke said it was "the end of one era and the start of a new one for the company and its 2,200 employees. This is a historic moment in the history of turf development in the State."

The payment of a final £8 million tranche completes the elimination of the board's once massive debts - £108 million in Exchequer equity has now been paid to the company. The last tranche will be used by Bord na Mona to clear the remaining unsustainable debt from its balance sheet.

The decision to eliminate the company's debts clears the way for Bord na Mona to begin operating as a modern public limited company under the Companies Acts from the start of next year. It brings to an end the company's status as a statutory corporation which has prevailed since its foundation in 1946.

Ms O'Rourke thanked the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, for releasing the money. "This latest tranche of equity is firm evidence of the Government's continuing support for Bord na Mona, one of Ireland's most important energy companies and largest source of employment in the midlands."

She said the debt clearance was one of a number of Government initiatives which would place the board on a much sounder footing. Others included a 120-megawatt peat-fired plant to be built at Edenderry, Co Offaly; the securing of a £21 million grant from EU structural funds for this project; Government approval for Bord na Mona's expansion into the coal business and the enactment of the Turf Development Act this year to give the board a modern company configuration.

"The latest payment represents the final discharge of the commitments which had been made by the Government to the board in recent years. The company is now on a firm financial and corporate footing and is well placed to face the challenges of the next millennium."

The growth of the company was now "firmly in the hands" of the board, management and workforce, Ms O'Rourke said.