Greencore has told the Minister for Agriculture and Food Mary Coughlan, that it is not interested in producing ethanol at the Mallow sugar factory which officially closes later today. Seán Mac Connell, Agriculture Correspondent, reports.
The Minister said yesterday that while there were no firm plans by anyone else in the private sector to make ethanol at the plant, there had been a lot of talk about the subject.
"If there are other commercial enterprises who want to get involved in this, I would like to hear from them but as of now there is a lot of talk but no one is coming up with anything," she said.
A total of 324 jobs have been lost in the plant which was supplied by 3,700 beet growing farmers.
The loss of the industry is expected to cost the economy €100 million and it has been estimated that 5,000 jobs in all, including haulage, contracting, supplies and ancillary businesses will be lost with the closure of the industry.
The Minister said there was nothing to stop Greencore, who owns Irish Sugar, from selling or leasing the plant to commercial interests for non-food production as it was a private company and could do as it wished. The site however, has considerable development potential.
On the question of the €44 million diversification package the Minister negotiated during the reform talks of the sugar regime, the Minister said that she believed this should go in its entirety to the beet farmers. A decision on this would be made next December.
Saying the closure of the last remaining sugar processing plant in Ireland would be an "emotional day" in Mallow, Ms Coughlan said her colleague Micheál Martin would be doing his utmost to replace the jobs.
She said the division of the separate compensatory package of €145 million for the closure of the Mallow plant should be decided by September.
The fund is subject to the submission of a detailed restructuring plan for the industry following consultations between the processor and the beet growers. The plan has to be approved by the Minister.
The reform agreement provided that at least 10 per cent of the restructuring fund should be reserved for sugar beet growers and machinery contractors. Greencore claims it is entitled to the remainder of the fund as it is intended to compensate processors who exit the industry and not producers such as farmers.
The company has indicated that it will go to court if necessary to ensure that it gets the lion's share of the restructuring cash.
A specified number of meetings had to take place between the company and the other interested parties within 45 days of the closure, under the guidelines set out by the commission. The application for the funds has to be made by 31st July and the EU should make its decision granting aid by September 30th.
The Minister was speaking at the Bord Bia speciality food forum in Dublin yesterday which was attended by food buyers with a combined purchasing power of almost €8 billion from across Europe.
