Enterprise Ireland made payments of €627,000 to McCarren Meats in Cavan in 2014 after the family firm was restructured and taken over by Kepak.

According to the agency’s annual report for 2014, Enterprise Ireland made a €500,000 equity investment in McCarren Meats Ltd in February 2014, along with another payment of €127,000. The agency had previously invested €340,000 in the company.

The taxpayer investment in McCarren helped save 188 jobs at the pork processor, which ran up a net loss of €2.3m in the year to March 2013.

In September 2013, Kepak bought a majority shareholding in McCarren Meats. Andrew McCarren Snr stayed on as a director but Andrew McCarren Jnr, Christopher McCarren and John McCarren resigned as directors. The McCarren family had been in the meat business for over five generations, starting out in business in 1860.

In the year to March 2014, McCarren Meats’ turnover dropped 6% to €43.3m and the operating loss was reduced to €792,000 from €1.9m the year before.

In Association with

An exceptional gain of €2.6m was booked in the accounts relating to lender Ulster Bank writing off some of its outstanding debt in exchange for shares in the company. At the end of March 2014, McCarren Meats' net debt was €6.3m.

Kepak, owned by the Keating family, has nine manufacturing facilities in Ireland and Britain.