John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter on the Adjournment. They will be aware that I have already responded to a parliamentary question submitted by Deputy Ciarán Lynch on this issue today. This gives me a further opportunity to address the issue, which has become the subject of much media speculation in recent days.

There has been a long history of industrial activity on Haulbowline Island, which was an important source of employment and a significant part of the local economy. The steelworks located there became the property of Irish Ispat, which went into liquidation in 2001. The State, acting through the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in a co-ordinating role, took over custody of the site from the liquidator in 2003, as mandated by Government. The mandate required the Department to co-ordinate all legal actions regarding the site and to address issues such as ongoing site security, maintenance and so on. It also required the Department to enable a site investigation to be carried out to assist in determining the best option, environmentally and economically, for the future use of the site and its remediation.

The steelworks operated on Haulbowline Island since 1939 at a time when such industrial activities were poorly regulated. Inevitably, the nature of the activity generated large quantities of waste, predominately inert slag, which were subsequently deposited on the island in an area that became known as the East Tip. I take this opportunity to confirm again for the House that, since my Department's involvement with the site began in 2003, no material has been removed from slag heaps to be used in road construction or other such commercial enterprises despite a number of approaches to my Department from interested parties in this regard. Anecdotal evidence suggests inert slag material was removed from the site and employed for this purpose during the period when the steelworks was in commercial operation and possibly also during the period when the liquidator owned the site. I can confirm that my Department does not hold any records or information regarding such activities during the periods in question. I also understand that Cork County Council is investigating the matter in respect of any licences or permits that might have issued for the removal for recycling of any slag material from the site. I assume that the mountains of material seen by residents and referred to by Deputy Ciarán Lynch were the so-called heaps of material for export.

As the Deputies are aware, my Department has now engaged consultants to carry out an independent and rigorous assessment of site conditions following the extensive unauthorised works by the subcontractors. The assessment, which has already begun, is divided into three distinct modules. White Young Green has had the full benefit of the advice of the EPA, the Marine Institute and the Health and Safety Authority in assessing the quality of surface water, marine sediment and mussel bivalves in the vicinity of Haulbowline Island, in assessing any health or environmental risks that may be posed by the recent works on the East Tip and in monitoring ambient air. The health and safety assessment will include sampling of slag-fill material across the East Tip. In 2005, White Young Green carried out an extensive intrusive site investigation that indicated no evidence of any immediate threat to human health or the environment. It is best suited to determining the best way forward in securing the site from an environmental and health and safety point of view in the short term pending a Government decision on its future use.

Deputy Kathleen Lynch referred to a so-called cutback or adjustment in respect of landfill remediation, but it will have no implication in terms of the Haulbowline Island situation. I assure the House that the investigation will continue unaffected. I have also given a commitment to local residents that a peer review will be carried out of both the 2005 report and the reports expected in the next five weeks from the ongoing White Young Green assessments. This is in line with best practice. The residents will be assured that they will be in receipt of the best international methodology. When I spoke to them, they called for a peer review, which I was happy to allow to proceed. I have further committed that the results of the ongoing assessment will be published and, as I informed the House last week, I will then advise the Government for purposes of decision making on whatever actions are shown to be necessary, including the question of any studies in regard to human health. I reassure the local residents and the House that my Department and other relevant agencies are properly engaged in the management of this legacy site in a manner consistent with good practice and the minimisation of risk to human health and the environment. A coherent overall approach rather than piecemeal action, which could inadvertently cause problems to the local community and the environment, must be taken, which is the objective being pursued by my Department.

A number of reports have been deposited in the Oireachtas Library. They are the 1995 and 1998 K. T. Cullen and Company reports, the 2002 O'Callaghan Moran report, the 2002 Enviros report and the 2005 White Young Green Report, which is on CD-ROM. I am committed to releasing any other useful information or reports. However, that there is considerable misinformation is a problem. When there is misinformation, fears are stirred up. I reassure people of my commitment to ensuring that relevant and accurate information is in the public domain to counter such misinformation.

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