During her time in this role the country's last two remaining sugar factories, owned by Greencore, were closed. The Carlow factory closed on 11 March 2005. Mallow, Ireland’s last sugar factory to remain open, closed on 12 May 2006, after operating for 77 years. Farmers and others were critical of the decision. They criticised the government's and the Minister's roles, both were seen as not doing enough to try to stop the closures, though they had retained some control over the factories since they had been privatised a number of years before. As sugar beet growers now had nowhere to sell their sugar beet, cultivation of the crop ceased in Ireland. Coughlan also headed this Department at a time when the spread of bird flu from abroad looked very likely to occur, especially in 2006.