The drop in the Irish cattle kill has led Kepak Group to commence a review of its beef deboning and cutting operations at its Clonee facility.
The review is necessitated by the ongoing supply challenges across the Irish beef sector that has reduced cattle kills, leading to lower processing volumes, a spokesperson for the company said.
“As a consequence of these national beef sector changes, Kepak currently has more beef deboning and cutting capacity than supply can sustain. While this imbalance has been managed in recent years through adjustments to working hours and shift patterns, many employees have consistently not worked full weeks.
“The purpose of the review is to better align beef deboning and cutting capacity with the longer-term beef supply outlook, thus supporting more stable, predictable and sustainable employment and business.”
Fully operational
The abattoir at Clonee is not affected by the review and will remain fully operational, the company said.
“Kepak will continue to source and slaughter cattle from its farmer supply base, as it has done at the site for more than 45 years.
“No decisions arising from the Clonee deboning capacity review have been made at this stage. A 30-day consultation process with potentially impacted employees has now begun.
“As the review relates to specific operations rather than the entire site, it would be inappropriate to speculate on its outcome,” it said.
The company said it recognises the uncertainty this review creates for its staff and understands the concern involved.
“The company is committed to engaging openly with them throughout the consultation, supporting those affected, exploring redeployment opportunities across its other sites with the objective of retaining as many staff as possible as Kepak employees,” it said.
Fall in the kill
Beef throughput at factories fell by 180,000 head of cattle in 2025, Meat Industry Ireland chair Philip Carroll said last week.
"That's a significant loss in the overall amount of output that we could have achieved otherwise,” he said.
“We've seen a significant decline in the suckler herd from around 1.1m head in 2011 to 750,000 head. In the past, we could compensate that loss by the growth in the dairy sector, but that is unlikely to happen in the future," he warned.
Read more
Beef Trends: national kill drops 12% in 2025
Beef throughput down 180,000 head in 2025 – MII
The drop in the Irish cattle kill has led Kepak Group to commence a review of its beef deboning and cutting operations at its Clonee facility.
The review is necessitated by the ongoing supply challenges across the Irish beef sector that has reduced cattle kills, leading to lower processing volumes, a spokesperson for the company said.
“As a consequence of these national beef sector changes, Kepak currently has more beef deboning and cutting capacity than supply can sustain. While this imbalance has been managed in recent years through adjustments to working hours and shift patterns, many employees have consistently not worked full weeks.
“The purpose of the review is to better align beef deboning and cutting capacity with the longer-term beef supply outlook, thus supporting more stable, predictable and sustainable employment and business.”
Fully operational
The abattoir at Clonee is not affected by the review and will remain fully operational, the company said.
“Kepak will continue to source and slaughter cattle from its farmer supply base, as it has done at the site for more than 45 years.
“No decisions arising from the Clonee deboning capacity review have been made at this stage. A 30-day consultation process with potentially impacted employees has now begun.
“As the review relates to specific operations rather than the entire site, it would be inappropriate to speculate on its outcome,” it said.
The company said it recognises the uncertainty this review creates for its staff and understands the concern involved.
“The company is committed to engaging openly with them throughout the consultation, supporting those affected, exploring redeployment opportunities across its other sites with the objective of retaining as many staff as possible as Kepak employees,” it said.
Fall in the kill
Beef throughput at factories fell by 180,000 head of cattle in 2025, Meat Industry Ireland chair Philip Carroll said last week.
"That's a significant loss in the overall amount of output that we could have achieved otherwise,” he said.
“We've seen a significant decline in the suckler herd from around 1.1m head in 2011 to 750,000 head. In the past, we could compensate that loss by the growth in the dairy sector, but that is unlikely to happen in the future," he warned.
Read more
Beef Trends: national kill drops 12% in 2025
Beef throughput down 180,000 head in 2025 – MII
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