No decisions on Aughinish before report, says minister

Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has said Ireland should not recommend any decisions on Aughinish Alumina, including potential future EU sanctions, until the independent report into the company is published.

Mr O’Callaghan was speaking after figures published today showed the amount of Irish-made alumina sent from the Irish site to Russia more than doubled between February and May, to 90,729 tonnes.

The report in the Irish Independent led to the Ukrainian embassy in Ireland calling for action, and claiming the Co Limerick site is providing "further support to the Russian war economy".

However, asked about the situation as he arrived at Dublin Castle for an informal meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers this morning, Mr O’Callaghan said he and the Government will make no recommendation on Aughinish Alumina until a long-awaited independent report into the matter is published.

"As you know my colleague Minister [for Enterprise Peter] Burke is conducting a review within his Department.

"My understanding is that report will be coming out within the next 10 days or so, two weeks, so I think we need to await the outcome of that report.

"We really need to see the hard evidence before we start formulating any conclusions on these matters," Mr O’Callaghan said.

Asked about whether the company should be included in future EU sanctions if concerns over the provision of alumina to Russia's army are proven, he added: "I think we need to see evidence. I'm not prepared to make really important decisions or proposals on important decisions without seeing the hard evidence.

"I'm sure Minister Burke is going to bring forward a very detailed report, and once that's available we'll give consideration to that."

The independent report into the Aughinish Alumina site is expected to be published in the coming days, with the Government under significant pressure both to address any potential issues and to protect jobs connected to the company in Ireland.