Extra €20m for Haulbowline Island clean-up

The Government has sanctioned an extra €20m for the clean-up of Haulbowline Island and its toxic waste dump in Cork Harbour, bringing to some €61m the total amount now set aside for the project.

The decision to commit extra funding was signed off by the Cabinet yesterday.

However, Simon Coveney, the agriculture and and marine minister, who secured the funding, has effectively ruled out any further legal efforts to pursue Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire whose company’s steel-making operation contributed to the environmental disaster on the site.

“The legal chapter on pursuing Mittal is now closed. The State went as far as it could from a legal perspective and the unfortunate reality is that it’s now the State’s problem,” Mr Coveney said.

“But I am satisfied that we are spending this money in as cost effective a way as possible. We are putting a platform in place which will result in the creation of one of Europe’s most attractive harbour parks, together with a technology and research cluster nearby.

“I have no doubt that, in time, it will be seen as great value for money.”

Last month, Mr Coveney reopened the refurbished bridge to the island — the headquarters of the Irish Naval Service — as part of the preparatory phase of the remediation project, which will see €8m spent this year alone.