Imperial Tobacco proposing to close Mullingar factory

 

Imperial Tobacco has announced it is proposing is to close its manufacturing facility in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, with the loss of 87 jobs. 

The majority of staff will leave in October 2016 and the firm intends that its remaining production will transfer to the Netherlands. 

Tobacco processing has been carried on at the Mullingar site since 1967 when  the-then operators, "Douwe Egberts" set up.

According to Imperial Tobacco, the proposed closure has resulted from the EU wide introduction of a 30g minimum pack size for rolling tobacco products from May 2016.

This has, the firm says, directly led to the requirement to decommission a number of production lines in the Mullingar factory. 

Ian King, Operations Director, Western Europe Factory Management said: “Imperial made a submission to the Department of Health Consultation on the European Tobacco Directive in December 2012 where we outlined the impact of the packaging changes on jobs in our factory. 

"To date, this Consultation Report remains unpublished.  In 2013 we communicated with various Ministers about the impact on our operations in Mullingar when larger minimum pack sizes were first proposed in the EU Tobacco Directive. 

"Unfortunately, we received no constructive response.  We would like to thank local politicians who had taken an interest in how the proposal would have affected jobs in Mullingar”.

Imperial Tobacco and employees will now enter into a 30 day consultation process.  “Any job losses are regrettable and we will continue to support our employees and ensure that they are treated in a fair and responsible manner” said Ian. 

There will be no change to the sale and availability of Imperial Tobacco brands in Ireland including Golden Virginia and Drum.