Business Supports
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Niamh Smyth (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

Enterprise Ireland supported the owners of the factory in Carrickmacross over a number of years as they sought to establish themselves as an infant formula and nutritional powders manufacturer. In March 2025, the company informed Enterprise Ireland that the business was no longer viable in Ireland due to inflationary pressures and market conditions.
As a result, the owners of the factory took the decision to sell the plant in Carrickmacross and appointed an Irish agent to support the sale process. They are actively seeking interest from potential purchasers of the facility and discussions have taken place with a number of interested parties. This process remains ongoing, and Enterprise Ireland continues to support the company by facilitating introductions to potential buyers, where appropriate. The Department keeps in regular contact with Enterprise Ireland on this important site, as I do myself, as Deputy Carthy knows.
Enterprise Ireland has had further discussions with both the owners in China and the company representatives at the facility in September and is continuing to liaise closely with the company to support efforts to secure a buyer for the site as a priority. The company has also confirmed that its team is available to facilitate site visits from public representatives if required. My Department remains committed to driving balanced regional development, including the north east. Enterprise Ireland supported 84 companies in Monaghan and 66 companies in Cavan in 2025. These companies are employing over 14,000 people. The north-east regional enterprise plan is focused on delivering a range of collaborative initiatives to strengthen the enterprise environment in the region. More locally, however, this is an issue that is incredibly important to the Deputy, me and everybody else in the local area. We will continue try our very best to find buyers that will bring new business and new employment to the Carrickmacross area.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22