The head of the Sean Quinn Group replied for the first time yesterday to criticism of the last British administration's decision to award a grant of over £12 million sterling for his glass production plant in Co Fermanagh.

Mr Sean Quinn, who faced planning objections from the British Glass Manufacturers' Confederation and ongoing criticism of the Industrial Development Board's (IDB) grant, said that other producers in the UK had received financial assistance from the UK and EU over the past 10 years and that his group paid up to £10 million in taxes annually. "We do not think they are giving us anything we are not entitled to. We have a proven track record," he said.

In the latest round of criticism, Labour MP Mr Eric Illsley said he believed the signing of the grant on the general election day of May 1st breached government guidelines restricting its activities to essential and vital business. In an interview in yesterday's Daily Telegraph, he said that on "clear advice from everyone in the industry" the factory would displace jobs in the Republic and the North of England.

Mr Quinn said that approval for the grant from the IDB came in January or February and that even if the £700 million industry expands only by 2 per cent over the next five years, his output of 160,000 tonnes would not fill that demand. In response to the criticism that there was over-capacity of 10 per cent in the industry and that German and Dutch imports were undercutting prices, Mr Quinn said the British producers had been over-increasing their capacities in recent years. If British producers could not compete with Germany or Holland, they were uncompetitive, he said, adding that current import levels were greater than his production capacity.

"Based on their own comments, they would prefer to see a Dutch company or a German company supply the British market, than a company from Northern Ireland," he said.

The plant will create 330 jobs in Derrylin, Co Fermanagh, in a recognised socially disadvantaged area.

"Fermanagh would be one of the highest unemployment areas in Europe. it has the highest level of unemployment in Northern Ireland. "We have put together 600 jobs in Derrylin over the past 20 years, with no assistance from the IDB," he said. He added that the plant, which is currently being constructed, is expected to be in production next summer.