Limerick company producing 2.6m masks a week to meet demand

A COUNTY Limerick face mask manufacturer is producing close to 2.6m masks a week to meet the unprecedented demand for  personal protective equipment (PPE) brought about by the spread of Covid-19.

Irema Ireland is continuing to ramp up production to help combat the spread of the coronavirus by transferring a second production line from their plant in Thailand to Kilmallock

It has increased production capacity to a 24/7 operation resulting in a 50% increase in their workforce. 

There are now 75 employees at the Kilmallock facility with a number of roles still to be filled.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday morning  HSE CEO Paul Reid said an Irish supplier in Limerick will soon treble its capacity of making some PPE, having already doubled their capacity.

When contacted this week Kieran O’Brien, marketing manager with Irema Ireland confirmed Mr Reid was referring to the Kilmallock-based company.

“Since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Irema Ireland has been working closely with the HSE to produce PPE respirator masks and face masks in our Facemate brand. Overall we are producing close to 2.6m masks a week with 250k being respirator masks which is a doubling of average production,” Mr O’Brien explained.

“We have transferred a second PPE respirator masks production line from our Thailand plant which came on stream last week and we have committed to further increasing our PPE respirator capacity with the addition of a third production line. All our PPE respirator mask production is going exclusively to the HSE to protect frontline healthcare staff.  The third production line we are committing to will add another 125k respirator masks weekly.”

In operation in Kilmallock since 1985, Irema has plenty of experience of global health scares having been to the forefront of providing increased global mask supply during the SARS epidemic in 2003 and the Swine Flu pandemic in 2009 among others. The Covid-19 coronavirus is surpassing both of these in terms of global demand.

“We have been receiving a number of enquiries from the general public into purchasing masks but Irema Ireland is not a retailer and is therefore unfortunately not in a position to provide masks to the general public,” Mr O’Brien explained.