Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

In June 2011 the Government decided that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine would chair a working group to oversee the clean-up of the former Ispat site on Haulbowline Island. My Department is represented on the working group. Cork County Council is acting as an agent of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the technical aspects of an application to the Environmental Protection Agency for a landfill licence. The preparation of the application to the EPA and its consideration by that body are likely to take up to 18 months to complete. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has also convened a steering group to advise him on the project as it gets under way. The Naval Service is represented on the steering group. As the clean-up of the site is some way off at this stage, no specific plans have yet been considered for its future use.

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