Enterprise Ireland has responsibility for inward investment in the food and natural resources sector as well as for indigenous manufacturing and internationally traded services companies employing more than ten people. Grants paid to the companies, referred to by the Deputy, by the State development agencies, under the aegis of my Department, were as follows:
Weyerhaeuser Europe Ltd
Year
|
Payment (€)
|
1983
|
2,464,527.33
|
1984
|
1,578,973.89
|
1985
|
29,330.95
|
1986
|
32,290.71
|
1988
|
54,537.79
|
1989
|
3,688.59
|
1990
|
202,797.48
|
1991
|
275,576.04
|
1992
|
167,689.24
|
1993
|
187,334.62
|
1994
|
1,018,629.60
|
1995
|
2,283,959.15
|
1998
|
83,296.09
|
1999
|
117,587.91
|
2000
|
66,794.57
|
2001
|
80,474.72
|
2002
|
1,292,978.31
|
2003
|
429,426.00
|
2004
|
27,137.25
|
Finsa Forest Products Ltd
Year
|
Payment (€)
|
1982
|
18,434.06
|
1984
|
323,026.44
|
1985
|
1,164,974.53
|
1986
|
297,871.68
|
1988
|
906,592.99
|
1990
|
116,503.00
|
1991
|
253,038.46
|
1992
|
138,353.20
|
1993
|
323,255.00
|
1998
|
1,269,738.08
|
1999
|
1,904,607.12
|
2002
|
67,584.98
|
SmartPly Europe Ltd
Year
|
Payment (€)
|
1995
|
5,985,196.13
|
1996
|
6,712,184.66
|
1998
|
111,083.04
|
1999
|
194,163.27
|
2001
|
135,622.00
|
2003
|
275,054.68
|
Masonite Ireland
Year
|
Payment (€)
|
1996
|
6,933,524.13
|
1997
|
6,823,717.19
|
1998
|
1,294,492.89
|
1999
|
1,492,465.37
|
2001
|
107,659.82
|
2002
|
513,461.71
|
2003
|
46,119.50
|
2004
|
17,619.90
|
The programmes under which these grants were approved were eligible for co-funding under the various operational programmes of the European Structural Funds. Any eligible amount of co-funding is incorporated into the payments listed. The establishment and success of these board mills has been a critical factor in the overall development of the forest products sector in Ireland. In 2003 these four companies generated $220 million in sales and $150 million in exports. They currently employ 755 people in mainly rural areas.