An ailing Wexford company has been saved by the investment of £1 million by a Dutch industrialist in return for an Irish passport. The Government last week agreed to give an Irish passport to the Dutch investor, who facilitated a management take-over of the textile plant Schoepp Velours at Drinagh in Wexford. It went into examinership three months ago.
The proposal was passed by the Cabinet last Thursday, and on Friday the management buy-out was confirmed in the High Court.
Immediately after the High Court hearing the new owners announced the appointment of a board of directors headed by Mr Padraic A. White, the former IDA chief executive, as chairman.
The management group put together a £2 million financial package of which half was provided by the Dutch backer at interest rates of 3 to 4 per cent, with a provision that the capital does not have to be repaid for seven years.
The industrialist was willing to assist the take-over bid, but one of the conditions was that he receive an Irish passport.
Passport-for-investment deals had been endorsed by the rainbow coalition before the dissolution of the Dail in June and had the backing of then Wexford Ministers Mr Brendan Howlin and Mr Ivan Yates.
Following the change of government the Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Mr Hugh Byrne, was asked to present the proposal to the new Cabinet.
Yesterday Mr Byrne defended the deal on the grounds that it had saved 130 jobs in Wexford. A total of 160 people were employed in Schoepp Velours before the appointment of the examiner, who agreed with the unions on 30 redundancies, which will take effect at the end of this week.
Mr Howlin said an investment naturalisation scheme existed in Ireland as it did in many other countries, and in this case it was complied with in an "absolutely transparent and above-board way".
He said: "I am delighted that this has resulted in Wexford, saving 130 jobs that would otherwise have been lost."