Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath

First of all, I was very clear that any amount of alumina getting into the wrong hands is unacceptable. Second, this is an independent report being carried out by my officials. I am not going to go and tell them, when they tell me they are not finished and that they need more time to stress-test the evidence that is in front of them, that they have to finish that report tomorrow. That is interference and I do not want to interfere or prejudice a report on which they are doing their due diligence. They are a competent authority designated under the European Commission and they are experienced to do that work. That work must be completed and then the report will be presented to me. I and the Government have been very clear that our support for Ukraine is unwavering, but we have to get our evidence together. I said that and I was very honest about that. The reporters from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, were also very honest when they stated in their report that there is no direct evidence that alumina is getting into Russian military items. We are working so hard to get the direct evidence to ascertain that, but it is challenging. I would be dishonest if I were to say this was going to be a simple solution. This is going to be very complex and, critically, the European Commission will have to stand up and take the lead on this. I have said that we will back it. We have backed the European Commission on every single sanctions package that has come forward. Contrary to reports, we have not lobbied on behalf of Aughinish Alumina, nor have I ever done so as a Minister. I mean to support international rules-based order and the vulnerable people in Ukraine.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09