By Gordon Deegan
Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president, Tim Cullinan has moved to put the financial performance of his piggery operation in north Co. Tipperary beyond public scrutiny.
This follows Cullinan’s Woodville Pig Farms making a successful application at the Companies Registration Office (CRO) to obtain unlimited status.
As a result, the firm with an address of Woodville, Ballymackey, Nenagh, will no longer be required to file annual publicly available accounts at the CRO, and instead can lodge an auditor’s report which is not required to provide a profit figure for the business.
Pig company accounts
The most recently filed accounts at the CRO for the business show that at the end of last March, the company’s accumulated profits had increased to €8.03 million.
In the 12 months to last March, the company accumulated profits increased by €76,760. This was down sharply on the €666,340 increase in profits in the prior year.
The company’s cash funds last year reduced from €3.465 million to €2.87 million. The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €151,517.
Pay to directors, Tim and Margaret Cullinan last year more than doubled from €70,600 to €153,476. Numbers employed reduced by one to 16.
Last year, Woodville Pig Farms Ltd., purchased pig feed from a connected firm, Tipperary Milling Company Ltd. for €4.6 million and this followed an outlay of €3.83 million under the same heading in 2021.
Woodville Pig Farms Ltd. livestock had a book value of €1 million at the end of last March.
Expansion
Cullinan’s firm has secured planning permission from Tipperary County Council for an expansion of the piggery operation.
The proposed development involves the number of sows, piglets and gilts to increase from 1,029 to 2,170, with weaner numbers to increase from 3,860 to 8,400 while pre-finishers are to total 3,900.
Woodville currently has a licence application before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with the expansion on the 13.7ac site.
Pig farming commenced at the Woodville site in the 1970s and documents lodged with the EPA state that “the proposed development would improve the environmental and welfare performance of the existing facility, to increase stock numbers to sustain viability and to comply with the EU Animal Welfare regulations”.
The document also states that the proposed development “would have a positive impact on the local economy by providing temporary employment during the construction phase as well as providing job security for employees currently working for Woodville Pig Farms”.
The report lodged with the EPA application states that the potential for the proposed development to cause adverse environmental impacts during the construction and operational phases “is anticipated to be negligible”.