Taoiseach Enda Kenny with Jim Bergin, CEO, Glanbia Ingredients Ireland, and Liam Herlihy, chairperson, Glanbia Ingredients Ireland, Dublin, April 30, 2013.

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland on Tuesday announced a new dairy plant which will result in about 600 direct jobs from 2015 at a new dairy facility in Belview, on the Kilkenny/ Waterford border.

The official government announcement refers to 1,600 direct and indirect jobs to boost the impact of the announcement but adding indirect jobs is a guess and misleading.

There is an estimated 400 jobs that will be involved in the building of the facility that will require a €150m investment.

Glanbia says GIIL is Ireland’s leading dairy ingredients company - - processing 1.6bn litres of milk or 30% of Ireland’s milk pool into a range of dairy ingredients for export to more than 50 countries. All produce from the new facility will be destined for export markets. Construction is set to commence on 17 May and the new facility is expected to begin production in Spring 2015.

The group says that as the dairy industry purchases 90% of its inputs from the domestic economy, there will be a maximum impact on the income of farm families - - boosting the rural economy and the local industries that will service on-farm expansion.

Glanbia said the facility will be capable of processing more than 700m litres of milk and will produce 100,000 tonnes of dairy powders a year.

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland is a joint venture between food company Glanbia and the Glanbia Co-Operative Society and it currently employs almost 500 employees and has market bases in Ireland, Germany, US, Dubai and Senegal.

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