BUILDING MATERIALS giant CRH is spending €250 million on expanding its manufacturing facilities in Poland, according to its head of operations there.

Declan Maguire, regional director for the Irish group's central and eastern European materials business, was speaking in Dublin yesterday at a conference on investing in Poland. He said CRH's sales in Poland were €800 million last year, while its operations gave a 40 per cent return on investment.

Mr Maguire said it was spending €250 million between 2008 and 2009 on expanding production capacity in Poland, with the bulk of the cash being used to boost its main cement plant.

He told the conference, organised by the Ireland-Poland Business Association and Polish embassy, that CRH entered the country in 1995 with the purchase of Cementbouw. It has since built up a national presence.

Mr Maguire said he took up his position in October 2001 when Poland was in recession. The country has recovered strongly since and demand for the group's products has grown 18 per cent year-on-year in 2007 and 2008.

Michael Shelly of Project Management, which specialises in engineering, architectural and related services for process industries such as pharmaceutical manufacturing, said his firm had a similar experience early in the decade.

He said Poland's entry to the EU triggered a period of strong growth in the economy which has continued to the present.