IT IS “HARD to know” when workers at the Aughinish Alumina refinery will have clarification about the future of the Foynes facility, the Tánaiste has said.

There are question marks over when a report into the plant will be complete, while one senior government minister has on Tuesday said the report may not be published when it is got over the line.

The Co Limerick-based plant is Europe’s largest supplier of alumina and has a Russian parent company.

There is increasing pressure on Ireland and the EU over allegations that material from the plant is sent to Russian smelters, where it is converted into aluminium used to supply manufacturers of the missiles, tanks and aircraft in the war against Ukraine.

The plant is owned by Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin ally Oleg Deripaska.

The Department of Enterprise is conducting an investigation into the refinery.

That report will then be sent to the European Commission, which will decide if sanctions will be imposed on the business or individuals associated with it.

Speaking to reporters at Government Buildings on Tuesday, Simon Harris said the Government’s investigation is “nearing completion”.

He said he believes it is the government’s job to “provide all factual information to the European Commission”.

Asked how long it would take before the workers at the plant would have clarity as to its future, he said: “The truth is, it’s hard to know, and I don’t say that in any sort of flippant way.”

Following the completion of the government’s report, Harris said that the “timeline in terms of what the European Commission may decide to do is a matter for them”.

Harris did add that it is “possible for the European Commission to do one thing at a time”, but that aluminium is a “really important part of the supply chain” for the bloc’s economy.

“We need to also make sure there isn’t any leakage into Russia’s war machine and obstacle work at some point,” Harris said.

Reacting to Limerick mayor John Moran’s comments about a community forum or taskforce for workers, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke said that we’re “not at that stage” yet to engage with the plant’s workforce.

Burke said there would be community engagement, but he wants to wait till the report comes back before taking next steps.

“So we have to assess that, assess what the commission will do as they have policy responsibility, and obviously take appropriate action as necessary in conjunction with the commission. And pointing out that we’ve always been very supportive of the sanction packages,” he said.

Questions over timeline

Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee on Tuesday acknowledged to reporters that there has been a delay in its publication but insisted that this is down to “further information” provided by Ukrainian counterparts in recent weeks.

“I appreciate that it’s going on perhaps longer than people would have thought,” McEntee said.

“It had been ready recently, but as I said there was further information provided to us through the Ukrainian embassy. It’s important that it’s concluded, we all want that to be the case,” she told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Speaking this afternoon, enterprise minister Burke told reporters that “there is no deadline” on the report, despite previous remarks stating it would be ready this week.

Burke said there are “independent, competent people carrying out this investigation”, including the Central Bank, his department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

He added that he “cannot set a deadline for competent experts to do their work”, pointing to the latest information that has come from Ukrainian authorities, as well as other work with Swedish authorities.

“So I can’t set a limitation of scope on people doing the investigation, but I expect from discussing the parameters and the timelines that it will be very shortly, and I’m hopefully sticking with my 10-day announcement in the Dáil last week,” Burke added.

Minister rules out nationalisation

Burke said that nationalisation was “firmly off the table” as an option if Rusal has to give up its ownership of the plant.

The Fine Gael minister said that advice received from the attorney general said that the “threshold you would have to reach for nationalisation is pretty significant and that threshold has not been reached” in respect of Aughinish Alumina.

This also covered the importance of property rights where a government was to get involved in a privately-run entity, with the minister adding that the “threshold is very high” for such an intervention.

With reporting by Christina Finn and PA