€8m investment in seafood businesses

State aid of €2.4m and private funding of almost €6m to twenty seafood processing companies is projected to deliver 157 jobs and €45m in additional sales by 2016.

Left: Minister Coveney with Denis Good and Maria Broderick, Good Fish, Carrigaline, Co Cork

Right: Minister Coveney with Denis Good,  Good Fish Carrigaline, Co Cork and Jason Whooley, BIM chief executive

Announcing the package under the 2014 Seafood Processing Business Investment Scheme, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney said Ireland’s seafood industry has the potential to reach €1bn per annum and deliver 1,200 additional jobs by 2017.

 “The processing sector is a key growth area in our seafood industry and can make a major contribution to those overall seafood industry growth targets. This investment commitment will help to build scale, drive innovation and develop value-added products to meet the considerable demand on our key international markets.”

The grants are co-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the European Fisheries Fund.

Further details: www.bim.ie/schemes/seafoodprocessingbusinessinvestmentscheme