The chief executive of Bord Na Móna, Gabriel D'Arcy, has told RTÉ News the company is considering changing its name.
Bord Na Móna - which is translated as The Turf Bord - has been operating under that name for 75 years. But Mr D'Arcy said the company was looking at the possibility of adopting a new name which would reflect its proud heritage and history, but also the new areas in which it works.
Earlier, the company said it planned to create 300 new jobs across a range of areas - such as green energy projects and environmental solutions.
The announcement came at the company's annual general meeting, where it reported a trading profit of €23.8m for the year to the end of March. This was up €1.3m from the previous year, on the back of 8% higher turnover of €401.6m.
Bord Móna also published a sustainability report, in which it set targets for the next five years. These include a 50% reduction in levels of CO2 per hour and the provision of 500 megawatts of wind energy. Mr D'Arcy said the financial results represented a 'credible' performance in a competitive environment and a tough export market.
Bord na Móna's move from peat harvesting to alternative enterprise is already well advanced. The company announced previously it was investing €150m in the waste and recovery sector.
The company has issues to resolve, however. Earlier this year it confirmed a deficit of more than €50m in one of its its pension schemes, and union officials have already said there will be widespread opposition to proposals for the privatisation of the company made by Professor Colm McCarthy's spending review group last week.
Honour pay rises, unions urge
The Bord Na Móna Group of Unions, representing up to 2,000 employees at the company, has called on Mr D'Arcy to honour commitments on pay increases which are due to staff under the national agreement.
Greg Ennis of SIPTU, the largest union in BnM, told RTE News this afternoon that while the unions welcomed the company's announcement of 300 new jobs, it was now essential that pay increases agreed under the Partnership and Sustaining Progress agreement should be honoured.
The unions say that, with an operating profit of nearly €24m, Bord Na Móna could have paid its workers the increases they were owed at a cost of less than €3m instead of telling its workforce that the situation would be reviewed again in March of next year.
