Slate and metal producer Tegral is to invest of €7.3m in its manufacturing plant in Athy, Co Kildare, which will mean the creation of 30 new jobs.
Ten of the new jobs have already been filled and the rest will be created in November.
In terms of the investment, €2.1m will be spent immediately on new machinery, while the remaining €5.2m will be invested in upgrading existing machinery and improvements in infrastructure over the next three years.
The investment follows a successful tender by Tegral to supply fibre cement roof slates for the UK market, following a competitive bid with other plants within the company’s global group, ETEX.
Paddy Kelly, managing director, Tegral said this investment would enable it to become a more efficient operation in preparation for the higher volumes expected in the coming years.
“There are already some signs of recovery in the Irish building market and whether the worst or best case scenarios are realised, we will be ideally positioned to manage the anticipated demand.”
Tegral has been in Athy for over 70 years, currently employing 92 people there.
The ETEX Group is a Belgian industrial group specialising in the production and marketing of high-quality building materials and systems.
It was founded over 100 years ago and now operates 123 production sites across 45 countries and employs more than 18,000 people worldwide