Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, TD has opened a new €21million investment at Glanbia's Dairy Ingredients Ireland (DII) milk processing facility in Ballyragget.

It marks the culmination of a €107million investment by DII since 2007.

Glanbia also released details of an economic assessment undertaken by Ernst & Young that predicts an annual €510m economic boost arising from planned milk expansion by Glanbia and its milk suppliers who are currently preparing for the abolition of milk quotas in 2015.

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The Glanbia Ballyragget facility is one of Europe's largest integrated dairy processing facilities, with seven individual plants operating at one site.

In the last year Glanbia has expanded its whey protein isolate (WPI ) plant in response to growing global customer demand for what is the purest form of protein available - used in applications ranging from sports nutrition, to immunity support, to cardiovascular health

Commenting at the official opening today, Minister Hogan welcomed the decision by Glanbia DII to invest in innovation and value-add technology which both creates high end jobs and adds value to the milk produced by local milk suppliers.

"The leadership shown by Glanbia DII is further proof that the food sector can be central to rebuilding the Irish economy," said Minister Hogan.

(CD/GK)