Some 65 permanent jobs are to be created in Waterford following the announcement that Dawn Meats has been awarded a €300 million contract to process up to 18,000 tonnes of Irish beef a year for McDonald's Europe.

McDonald's currently sources 40,000 tonnes of beef from Ireland each year, which is used in its Irish and European restaurants.

One in every five hamburgers sold in McDonald’s restaurants across Europe is made from Irish beef. Dawn Meats, one of Ireland’s largest food companies, has been supplying the restaurant chain for 25 years.

While up to now Irish beef has been shipped to Britain where it is processed before entering the McDonald's supply chain, that meat will now be processed in a purpose-built beef processing facility in Carroll’s Cross, Co Waterford, about10 per cent of which will be financed by Enterprise Ireland.

The new facility will officially open at the end of next month.

McDonald's, which is the single biggest purchaser of Irish beef, buying around 10 per cent of Ireland’s total beef output, will continue to source its beef from a number of Irish processors including Dawn Meats, Kepak and AIBP.

Explaining the company’s decision to locate the facility in Ireland, McDonald's Ireland managing director Adrian Crean, said

Irish beef, which is produced from cattle reared on a natural diet, grazing extensively in open fields "is one of the best there is”.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said the announcement showed how Ireland was moving from being an exporter of “high volume, commodity-based food products to the producer of value-added, premium products which are gaining a reputation across the globe.”

He said

McDonald’s was an example of a company “adapting to changing consumer demands".