Glanbia has announced that it will not proceed with the rebuilding of its Roosky pigmeat processing facility in Co Roscommon after a fire destroyed the plant last May. Glanbia Meats said it plans to restore the capacity lost in the fire by upgrading and expanding its two facilities in Edenderry, Co Offaly and Roscrea, Co Tipperary.
The upgraded facilities, estimated to cost €27m, will have a combined capacity to process 25,000 pigs a week. Work will be completed by September 2004. Overall, the expanding processing activities will see employment at the two sites rise by 150.
Glanbia Meats says it remains committed to its cannery facility in Rooskey, with employs 95 people.
Glanbia said that despite what it called extensive exploration of options, it proved uneconomic to rebuild the Roosky plant. 'The restoration of lost capacity within existing facilites is a better long-term solution for the company and producers, due to the economies of scale that will arise, in the face of the intensely competitive markets that the company serves', it said in a statement.
A voluntary redundancy programme was agreed for staff affected by the fire in Roosky and Glanbia said this has seen significant uptake by employees in processing activities. This package has been extended to include other administrative and support positions.
Glanbia said it is expected that, net of the 150 new jobs created in Edenderry and Roscrea, 190 workers will be without a job following the company's decision not the rebuild the Co Roscommon plant.
'I am confident the solution we have arrived at offers the best long-term job security for our remaining employees and for our producers,' said John Madden, CEO of Glanbia Meats.
