Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
418. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Finance the actions that have been taken by his Department pursuant to the 2019 judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union in joined cases (details supplied); the amount of aid money which has been recovered to date as a result of this judgment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44200/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe EU Commission Decisions of December 2005 and February 2007 found that heavy fuel excise relief granted to Aughinish Alumina Ltd was unlawful State aid and incompatible with the common market. Similar decisions were handed down in respect of companies in France and Italy.
On foot of the 2005 Decision, the Department recovered from Aughinish Alumina Ltd €10,948,601 in respect of the period 2 February 2002 to 31 December 2003 and a further €3,607,986 in respect of the 2007 Decision for the period 1 January 2004 to 31 October 2007. Accordingly, on foot of both decisions, Ireland recovered a total of €14,556,587 from Aughinish. Over time, these decisions have been subject to a series of appeals resulting in the return and recovery of the state aid on a number of occasions.
In December 2017, the European Court rejected on all grounds the most recent appeal against the Commission decision of 2005. As a consequence, the finding of the General Court stands and the exemption for mineral oils constitutes State aid. Following the judgement in respect of the 2005 decision, the General Court invited the parties to submit observations as to the consequences of the Court order for the 2007 decision. Counsel for the State was of the view that not all of the pleas in respect of the 2007 case have been dealt with by the 2005 judgement. Accordingly, the Court was asked to examine two outstanding pleas and the hearing took place on 2 April 2019. On 17 September 2019 the Court dismissed both pleas. Accordingly Ireland fully implemented recovery as per the provisions outlined in the above-mentioned Decisions. A total of €15.1 million (including interest) has been recovered from Aughinish in respect of the EU Commission Decisions of December 2005 and February 2007. The Commission was notified of the recovery and as per letter dated 20 March 2020 confirmed that the case would be closed.
