Michael Carey steps down as chair of Enterprise Ireland and Housing Agency

Businessman
Michael Carey
has stepped down from his roles as chairman of both
Enterprise Ireland
and the
Housing Agency
.
This follows recent media reports highlighting the fact that his company, biscuit maker
East Coast Bakehouse
, where he is a major shareholder and executive chairman, is late in filing its accounts to the Companies Registration Office as required by law.
He took the decision to avoid any embarrassment for the ministers involved, James Browne in housing and Peter Burke in the Department of Enterprise.
In a statement, Mr Carey said: 'This has occurred due to management administrative errors. The delay has been exacerbated by an unanticipated need for a decision by our board to change our auditors.
READ MORE
'There is no suggestion of any financial issues at the company; the accounts for these periods are completed and the fully audited accounts are expected to be filed in the CRO by early July.'
It is understood that Big Four accounting firm EY was recently appointed as the company's auditor.
[
Creating billion-euro businesses with global scale a key goal for new Enterprise Ireland chairman
Opens in new window
]
Founded in 2016, East Coast Bakehouse employs 100 people at its manufacturing facility in Drogheda, Co Louth.
Mr Carey said the business was 'growing rapidly' and has recently completed a successful fundraising round securing €5 million in equity.
'Following this successful fundraising and a recent management restructure, I am returning full time to the business as chief executive to lead its next phase of scaling,' he said.
Mr Carey acknowledged that the late filing of East Coast Bakehouse's accounts could be a distraction for the agencies.
'I accept personal responsibility for the failure of the business to comply with this corporate governance requirement and the heightened requirement to fully comply, as chairman of a number of state boards.
'A late filing fee will be paid as appropriate and actions have been taken to avoid any future reoccurrence.
Will rent reform make building apartments viable?
Listen |
40:12
'In order to avoid embarrassment to the ministers and any distraction from the crucially important jobs undertaken by these two agencies, I will step aside from these roles with immediate effect.'
'I would like to thank the respective Ministers and their teams, the board members and dedicated executive leadership teams of these agencies for their support over the past number of years and wish them well in their future continued progress,' he said.
Mr Carey noted that the two positions were unpaid with no expenses drawn. He was appointed as chairman of The Housing Agency in 2018 by then Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy and reappointed for a second term by Minister Darragh O'Brian in 2023. His term was due to end in 2028.
He was appointed as chairman of Enterprise Ireland by then Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney in 2023, and his term was due to end in 2028.
He was previously chairman at Bord Bia from 2011 until 2017.
Enterprise Ireland and the Housing Agency have been contacted for comment.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Irish Independent

2 hours ago

• Irish Independent

Why fresh ideas are key to ongoing success of Irish food sector

This is one of the most important and respected industries in the country, supporting over 60,000 high-quality jobs and generating strong exports each year. But consumer expectations are changing fast. People want food that's healthier, more sustainable, and more transparent – and the companies that thrive in the years ahead will be those that respond quickly and innovatively to those demands. Innovation isn't a luxury – it's a necessity. And the sector is responding. New data released at the summit showed that Enterprise Ireland-supported food and drink companies invested €166m in research and development in 2024, with 113 firms each investing more than €100,000. That's a strong step forward. But we know it needs to go farther. Food Vision 2030 sets out a target for privately funded R&D to reach 1pc of turnover across the agri-food sector. That's a bold and important ambition – and meeting it will be essential if we're to remain globally competitive. What stood out most at this year's summit was the power of collaboration. Across the day, we heard from start-ups, scale-ups, researchers, and established brands, all working with agencies like Bord Bia, Teagasc, BIM, FSAI, and our Food Technology Gateways. That joined-up effort is one of Ireland's biggest strengths. We also saw how technology is reshaping food – from AI and precision fermentation to breakthroughs in personalised nutrition, smart manufacturing and sustainable packaging. These aren't just trends; they're real opportunities for Irish companies to lead and grow. And it's not just about technology – it's about mindset. Businesses that build innovation into how they think, hire, plan and invest are the ones best placed to adapt. That point came through clearly in case studies from firms like Keogh's, Lily O'Brien's, Kepak, and West Cork Distillers. At Enterprise Ireland, we're committed to supporting that journey –by funding innovation, connecting companies to research expertise, and helping them scale internationally. The ambition is already there. Now we need to back it with urgency and action. This summit was about momentum – and ensuring that today's challenges become tomorrow's opportunities. With the right investment and collaboration, Ireland can continue to lead in producing high-value, sustainable food for the world.

Irish Times

11 hours ago

• Irish Times

Rathmines locals protest over An Post move to sell ‘cultural icon' later this year

Protesters gathered outside Rathmines post office on Saturday morning in a demonstration against its relocation and planned sale of the building. The protest came after An Post this week confirmed its plans to move the Rathmines branch by September, paving the way for the sale of one of the most prominent buildings in the south Dublin suburb. Labour leader and local TD Ivana Bacik organised Saturday's demonstration, alongside local councillors Fiona Connelly and Dermot Lacey. Speaking at the protest, she said the building should be kept 'in community usage', adding that 'our priority is to keep the postal service in the retail hall'. Labour leader Ivana Bacik at the protest in Rathmines on Saturday. Photograph: Ella Sloane The imposing 1934 art deco building will be sold with two other Dublin post offices – Phibsborough and Tallaght – as well as a further three across the State, as part of the 'transformation of the national post office network,' An Post said previously. READ MORE At present, 95 per cent of the country's post offices are already contracted out to independent business owners, who often run post office services as part of a local shop. It is understood the Rathmines post office will move to a Centra store in the locality. Ms Bacik described the demonstration as 'a last-ditch appeal' to Minister for Communications Patrick O'Donovan and Minister for Expenditure Jack Chambers to not sign off on the property's divestment. 'The post office is a very well loved, much-used building. This is very much from the heart.' Ms Connelly stressed the importance of public buildings such as the post office 'as a community asset and a community resource'. Cllr Fiona Connelly at the protest. Photograph: Ella Sloane 'It's really sad to see a resource like the post office, that's in such demand and so heavily used, closing.' Enid O'Dowd, a local and regular user of the postal service, said the decision to sell the building was 'just ridiculous', expressing concern at the pressure the branch's relocation would place on the post office in Ranelagh. Speaking of the branch's speculated move to a nearby Centra, she said the shop 'is going to be a very crushed place with queues spilling out on to the pavement'. 'What's going to happen is people are going to start using the one in Ranelagh but that isn't big enough for the demand. They've only two cashiers there.' Enid O'Dowd at the protest. Photograph: Ella Sloane Cliona Buckley, who grew up on Leinster Road said: 'The last thing they [An Post] should be doing is shutting down memorable, protected, built for purpose buildings. What they should be doing is spending money cleaning up the front of it or they could have lovely potted plants or flower baskets and make it a feature.' She said the post office's planned closure and sale showed a failure by An Post 'to serve the Irish citizens'. Andrew Folan, Mary Freehill and Cliona Buckley at the protest. Photograph: Ella Sloane Another local demonstrator, Andrew Folan, said he felt 'absolutely outraged' by An Post's decision, adding that it was indicative of 'the digitalisation of our culture'. 'The analogue thing of writing letters, posting letters, distributing parcels and meeting the community while you do it is an essential part of our life. I think that the gradual shutting down of post offices is a very negative thing.' Mr Folan pointed to the need for 'a spacious building' due to demand for the service. 'This is a fantastic cultural icon, beautiful design and art deco, well built and a landmark for Rathmines. I think we should celebrate what we've got and show a bit more regard for our culture and our heritage,' he said. Former Labour councillor Mary Freehill, from Rathmines, said the recent loss of the suburb's citizen's information centre in 2022 had already taken a toll on the community. 'There isn't a place for people to come together.' 'Rathmines has very few publicly owned buildings,' said Ms Freehill, adding 'this is the only thing built by the Irish State in Rathmines. All of our other public buildings were built by the British.'

Irish Times

a day ago

• Irish Times

Ireland needs to ditch empty promises and economic fairy tales and start confronting reality

The next six weeks or so are going to go a long way to defining the Government's term in office. The printers are going to be busy. We are due an updated housing plan, a new strategy on competitiveness and productivity, the Summer Economic Statement and a new medium-term budget strategy along with a revised National Development Plan outlining state investment plans. Then, in the middle of all this, there is the deadline for the US/EU tariff talks on July 9th. The Government needs to use this crucial period to set some kind of coherent economic narrative for its term. So far it has been firing blanks. For example, bits of its housing plan are drip-feeding out in an often-disorganised fashion. Perhaps this is meant to give the impression of busyness, but all it does is confuse people. READ MORE At the heart of all this is credibility. A believable strategy must have some hope of delivery. And here the State – in the widest sense of the Government and the public service – is struggling. It is not just that things are happening late – like the National Children's Hospital. Or that there are signs of waste and carelessness with public money – step forward the Leinster House bike shed. It is that a lot of vital stuff is simply not happening at all. It is a stretch to believe that the Metro will ever get built. Or the giant project to bring water from Shannon across the State. Or the offshore wind infrastructure that is meant to be at the heart of our energy transition , where the Draghi report on EU competitiveness showed Ireland has one of the most long-drawn out consent mechanisms in Europe. In this context, government targets take on an air of fantasy. Less than six months into the Coalition's term, Minister for Housing James Browne told us this week that the target of building 41,000 homes this year is not going to happen. So why should we believe the target for 2026 or the 300,000 plus homes promised during the Coalition's term? The Departments of Finance and of Public Expenditure will publish a budget strategy over the summer, based, we must assume, on tighter control of day-to-day spending. But key spending targets have ended up being roundly ignored in recent years. Central Bank researchers estimated this week that permanent Government spending has risen by 37 per cent since 2021. Had the annual spending limits of 5 per cent set by the previous administration been adhered to, the increase would have been 16 per cent. That is a €16 billion difference. Official documents and targets seem to exist in some kind of parallel universe where no one really expects them to happen. They are more fairy stories than strategy. And the risk with the plans coming in the weeks ahead is that these are more endless checklists of stuff that is happening already and stuff that might or might not happen at all. Some central themes and directions are urgently needed. And some convincing messages of actual action to get things done. Investment is built on certainty, yet in key areas such as climate change and housing this is simply missing. The current drift has a cost. The stalling of investment across the economy is in part due to threats of tariffs from Donald Trump . There isn't much the Government can do about that. But it can start to get its own story straight. Lack of clarity about housing policy is causing parts of the construction industry to sit on its hands. With talk of more incentives and tax breaks on the way, and uncertainty on state commitment in areas of social housing, builders wait to see what emerges. House building volumes slipped by 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous three months. Meanwhile, big foreign investors – and their international headquarters – are starting to realise that promises to deliver better energy and water infrastructure are simply not being met. Investment plans, on hold to see how the US/EU talks work out, will restart at some stage. Ireland is at risk of not being in the frame. The first real alarm bell for this was when Intel ditched Oranmore in Co Galway as a possible site for a big new plant in 2021 because the State could not guarantee how long planning would take on vital supporting infrastructure. This followed the seemingly endless planning saga for the Apple data centre in Athenry , also Co Galway. A convincing economic narrative needs a few central points that everyone has signed up to. Read the Central Bank research out this week for a convincing case on how state investment remains low here, despite tripling over the past decade. This is because the economy and population have grown so fast and the economy was already hobbled by years of underinvestment after the financial crash. To allow space for investment to continue to grow – and provide a buffer if the public finances tighten – other parts of the budget need to be under control. This means keeping the budget in surplus and continuing to put away excess corporate taxes in the funds for the future. This needs to be a central part of a coherent strategy. To be credible, the whole Government – including Micheál Martin and Simon Harris – need to explicitly sign up to this. If it is just a creature of the budget departments, then it will be there to be negotiated away during the budget process. It goes without saying that the second leg of any strategy needs to focus on prioritisation and delivery. Many thousands of words have been written about this. And the challenges are significant. But Ireland, for now anyway, is in a uniquely privileged position with a flush Exchequer and room for manoeuvre. The resources are there. Spending them well is the challenge. Ireland can consider how to respond as the Trump story plays out. The odds are that it will continue to do so long after the July 9th talks deadline. But the Government needs a convincing narrative of how it is going to manage what is under its control and use what may prove to be transitory budgetary riches. There are dangers ahead. But we are starting from a good position, with full employment and flush coffers that are the envy of many other countries. The Government needs to start telling a better story – not just to the public and investors, but also to itself.