News

Rebate to sand companies under the spotlight

Stephen Agnew talks to the Irtish News..Picture Hugh Russell.
Stephen Agnew talks to the Irtish News..Picture Hugh Russell. Stephen Agnew talks to the Irtish News..Picture Hugh Russell.

EXCLUSIVE

OPERATORS involved in the unauthorised extraction of sand from Lough Neagh received up to 16.3 million in tax rebates through a special scheme even though they had no planning permission for their activities.

Details of the scheme emerged hours after environment minister Mark H Durkan ordered firms involved in dredging to cease by the end of next month.

Aggregate Levy Credit Scheme (ALCS) certificates were issued to several firms involved in sand extraction on Lough Neagh between 2004 and 2010.

Some of those firms were ordered to halt their dredging activities earlier this week.

To qualify for the scheme firms had to apply to the Department of the Environment (DoE) for a certificate which was then used to obtain the tax relief.

Those applying also had to commit to carrying out environmental improvements.

Mr Durkan has previously said that a site operator was required to satisfy the department that all mandatory authorisations to achieve legal compliance were in place in order to qualify for tax relief.

The credits scheme was suspended in September 2010 after a European General Court ruling annulled approval previously granted by the European Commission.

The development came after a legal challenge by the British Aggregates Association and two Irish companies who questioned the decision to approve the scheme as as allowable state aid.

The scheme was introduced in 2004 by former Northern Ireland Office minister Angela Smith and remained in place while the department was run by ex DUP ministers Arlene Foster, Sammy Wilson and Edwin Poots before it was eventually scrapped.

The Northern Ireland Audit Office recently confirmed to that it has launched an investigation into the unauthorised extraction of sand from the lough - Irelands largest inland waterway.

It is understood part of that investigation will consider the fact that operators were allowed to avail of the Aggregate Levy Credit Scheme even though planning permission had not been sought or granted.

It is believed that audit official officials calculate that the full value of the aggregate rebate is between 9.6 million and 16.3 million over the six year period it ran.

Green Party assembly member Steven Agnew last night said the original certificates should not have been issued.

"I think its incredible and it shows the lack of joined up working in the DoE that these tax rebates were being issued to companies that neither sought or received planning permission to extract minerals from the lough," he said.

"The conditions for these tax rebates are very clear and this is been confirmed by the minister to me in assembly questions.

"There should be no rebates issued where there is no planning permission."

Mr Agnew said he believed rules have been broken.

"The public rules around these rebates have been breached by the public agencies that are supposed to be responsibility for ensuring compliance of the rules," he said.

"I am pleased this is being investigated by the Northern Ireland Audit Office."

A spokeswoman for the sand traders last night confirmed the special scheme resulted in less tax having to be paid but said that no money was returned to the traders".

She said assessors were sent to the companies involved to ensure they had mandatory authoritisations" in place.

"The department specified what those requirements were and planning permission for sand extraction from Lough Neagh was not one of those requirements," she said.

The DoE has so far failed to issue a response.