State ordered to retrieve €10m state aid from Limerick refinery Aughinish

An EU court has ordered the Government to recover over €10m in illegal state aid from Co Limerick-based metals refinery Aughinish Alumina.

The plant — now owned by Russian aluminium giant Rusal — is Europe’s largest producer of alumina, a white powder extracted from bauxite to produce aluminium.

Aughinish has found itself at the centre of one of Europe’s longest-running court battles after the European Commission ruled in 2005 that it enjoyed unfair tax breaks.