ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley last night admitted there was “anecdotal evidence” that material was removed from the toxic Irish Steel plant in Haulbowline, Co Cork, and used in the construction of roads.
He made the admission in a written response to a parliamentary question from Cork TD Ciaran Lynch.
But in a subsequent Dáil debate on the issue, Mr Lynch said the evidence was “more than anecdotal”.
He quoted from a 1998 Cork County Council letter that suggested slag — waste material generated in the production of steel — had been removed from the site.
Mr Lynch used parliamentary privilege to name two companies he believed had used the slag for state road construction projects.
The companies are Road Maintenance Services Ltd and Road Binders Ltd, both with offices in the Maynooth Business Campus, Co Kildare and subsidiaries of Colas, a French road construction company.
In the written response to the earlier parliamentary question, Mr Gormley said no material had been removed from the site since his department took custody of it in June 2003. However, he admitted there was “anecdotal evidence” to suggest slag may have been removed for road construction before that date.
Irish Examiner
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