Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
244. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the engagements that he or any representative of his Department, or associated State agencies, have had with management of a factory (details supplied) since 2019; the current number of employees at this factory; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40423/23]
View answerI have been assured that Enterprise Ireland (EI) continues to support the company referenced in the Deputy’s question and are actively encouraging them to look at wider business opportunities across the relevant market. Whilst the company are doing this, progress has been much slower than they had anticipated, driven largely by recent inflationary costs. EI are also supporting the company to explore the innovation networks and ecosystem available to them in Ireland and supportive to their innovation journey.
The factory was officially opened in November 2019 when the fit-out of the facility was completed. As a proposed manufacturer of infant formula supplying the Chinese market, the company is required to have their facility fully audited and approved for operations prior to the commencement of any production.
This process includes approval by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and also inspection and approval by the Chinese authorities (GACC). Delays to this mandatory regulatory approval process were encountered due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated travel restrictions. The facility was approved by DAFM for infant formula production in mid-2021 and latterly approved by GACC for infant formula production in September 2022.
In addition to the approval needed to operate an infant formula plant as outlined above, recent legislation changes in China now requires that all recipes for supply into the Chinese infant formula market must also have Chinese authorities’ approval for production. The Irish factory, through their parent company in Shanghai, submitted their recipes for approval in January 2023 and anticipate a decision before the end of 2023. Once that approval is received, the factory can move to trial production stage.
The Chairman of the company, the Irish based CEO, and executives of EI met at the factory in August 2023. DAFM officials were also facilitated during this visit.
There are currently 8 full time workers employed on site, across business development, HR and engineering, with an expectation to grow employment as the business builds.
