A Newbridge company has confirmed plans to double its staff to 100 this year.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan has officially opened an extension to Advanced Laboratory Testing (ALT) Ltd's facility in Kildare this morning.

The company, which provides lab testing to the food and agriculture sector, was established 18 months ago and already employs 50 people.

ALT's Billy Coleman said the expansions "will allow the Irish Food Industry to use an Irish based commercial laboratory service provider to assist in complying with new EU labeling regulations which came into force in December 2014. This will result in significantly improved turnaround times for customers in Ireland and will lessen the need for Irish companies to use subcontract labs in the UK and mainland Europe.”

Speaking at the opening today, Phil Hogan described as a "non-story" a report that he has had to pay back some expenses paid to him as a TD.