Ispat steel plant ‘could cost taxpayer €70m’

THE end cost to the taxpayer of the former Irish Ispat steel plant in Cork Harbour may be as high as €70 million, the Green Party said last night.

The figure is over twice that of previous estimates which put the price of cleaning up the Haulbowline Island site at €30m.

The Green’s finance spokesman Dan Boyle yesterday said the €70m figure was based on calculations of the Government’s outlay since Ispat bought the plant for a nominal sum of £1 in 1996.