‘Impartial evidence’ needed on alumina plant’s links to Russia, Dáil told
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association
Evidence is needed on whether alumina exported from a Limerick-based plant is used in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Dáil has heard.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said the Government “will not tolerate any exports that are feeding the Russian military complex”.
He said Irish authorities were working with Ukraine, the EU and Swedish authorities on the issue, and the latter had “come forward with additional evidence over the last 10 days”.
The Department of Enterprise is investigating reports that products from the Aughinish Alumina refinery are being used to supply Russian arms manufacturers.
Aughinish Alumina, established on the Shannon Estuary in Ireland in 1986, is Europe’s largest supplier of alumina – a raw material used in cars and medical devices.
An investigation by The Irish Times and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), published in March, reported that alumina from the Limerick plant is sent to Russian smelters, where it becomes aluminium used to supply the manufacturers of missiles, tanks and aircraft being used against Ukraine.
The facts are staring you in the face. When are you going to act decisively on this? When are you going to stop these exports?Cian O'Callaghan, Social Democrats
The Government has said that the facts need to be ascertained and that any decision on whether EU sanctions against Russia would include alumina was a decision for the European Commission.
The case was raised by Social Democrats’ deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan in the Dáil on Thursday, who said the Government had all the information it needed and asked when the investigation would be completed.
He said Australia had banned alumina exports to Russia after Ukraine’s invasion in 2022, and the details had been established “since the war began”.
“The facts are staring you in the face,” he told the Enterprise Minister.
“When are you going to act decisively on this? When are you going to stop these exports?”
Burke said: “I absolutely share the concern that you have raised,
“That is why we have set about conducting an investigation in the Department of Enterprise to ascertain the evidence impartially, working with the European Commission, working with the Swedish authorities which came forward with additional evidence over the last 10 days, and also working with Aughinish Alumina, trying to ascertain the truth.
“We will get to the bottom of this in terms of the supply chain.”
I have set an independent process in place to ensure that we get to the bottom of the facts here of exactly where this alumina is ending up, and we have to achieve that through that investigationEnterprise Minister Peter Burke
He said Ireland had supported every one of the 21 packages of sanctions against Russia and helped Ukraine with non-lethal aid and support for its refugees in Ireland.
He said he needed to “ascertain the truth” and that a “genuine” investigation to gather evidence was taking place.
“I cannot, as a minister, make a decision without impartial evidence before me,” he said.
“I have set an independent process in place to ensure that we get to the bottom of the facts here of exactly where this alumina is ending up, and we have to achieve that through that investigation.”
The Government was warned by Aughinish Alumina last month of potential job losses in Ireland and of a restricted supply of alumina across Europe if it fell under Russian sanctions.
The Government has admitted that about 1,000 people are employed because of the plant in Limerick, and that it would have an impact on alumina supplies to Europe.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said it was “important to get the facts straight” about the Limerick plant during a visit to Dublin on Tuesday.