Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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171. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 244 of 20 September 2023, if there have been any further engagements by his Department or associated State agencies with the owners or management of a factory in Carrickmacross (details supplied); when it is now expected that the factory will move to trial production stage as referenced in the previous response; the current number of employees at the factory; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49753/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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As the deputy is aware, 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.

However, 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 year end. On receipt of that decision, it is expected that the factory can move to trial production stage.

I have been assured that Enterprise Ireland (EI) continues to support the company referenced in the Deputy’s question and are also supporting the company to explore the innovation networks and ecosystem available to them in Ireland and supportive to their innovation journey.

There are currently a small number of full time workers employed on site, across business development, HR and engineering, with an expectation to grow employment as the business builds.