Bord na Móna pledges energy jobs

State-owned utility, Bord na Móna says it will create 300 new jobs across the organisation over the next two to three years.

Chief executive Gabriel D’Arcy said earlier today that the jobs will created mainly in green technology operations.

Mr D’Arcy pointed out that the company is investing it is investing €7 million in developing mechanical and biological treatment for systems for bio-degradable waste such as wood and plant cuttings, at its facility in Drehid, Co Kildare.

The materials produced there are used in the fertiliser products such as moss peat, which it sells to the horticulture industries and garden centres in Ireland, Britain and other markets.

Mr D’Arcy said that the jobs will be created over the next two to three years. “We hope that the majority of them should be within the next two years,” he added.

The jobs announcement came as Bord na Móna reported that it made operating profits last year of €23.8 million, an increase of €1.3 million on 2007. Sales were up 8 per cent at €401.6 million.

The company paid a €12.9 million to its shareholders. The State received the bulk of the cash, but the workers, who own 5 per cent through a share option trust, were paid a total of €645,000 - which means that it was worth on average just over €300 to each of the option scheme’s 2,100 members.

Bord na Móna was originally established to manage and exploit the Republic’s peat bogs, but has been branching into alternative energy and waste management in recent years it will have to wind down peat production over the next decade.

It is building wind farms with the capacity to produce 500 mega watts of electricity - enough power for 160,000 homes.

The company also published its first Sustainability Report which sets targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions and the diversion of waste from landfill over the next five years.

Mr

D’Arcy said the company was investing in areas such as air and water treatment where it already had an expertise. “We have a clear focus on diversification and expansion and we have made progress on delivering these goals during 2008, despite the difficult economic circumstances both at home and abroad.”

Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan welcomed Bord na Móna’s strategy and said pursuing green technologies could lead to “considerable economic benefits”.

“These jobs in areas such as resource recovery will reduce the volume of materials going to landfill and re-directing them for use in horticulture and energy.”