Funding worth €75 million could be withdrawn if Ireland is found to be breaking EU rules in the construction of the M50 motorway in Carrickmines, the European Commission said today.
The threat emerged during a meeting of the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, when a Commission official told MEPs that failure to observe EU directives on the environmental impact of the development could result in funding being withdrawn or recovered.
Labour MEP Mr Proinsias De Rossa, vice chair of the Committee, today announced he will lead a delegation of MEPs to visit the south Dublin site and meet with the Minister for Transport, Mr Seamus Brennan. The visit is due to take place on the 3rd and 4th of April.
Mr De Rossa had asked the Committee to inquire into what he says is the failure of the Irish authorities to protect the Carrickmines Castle archaeological site.
"If the environmental impact statement (EIS) is found not to be carried out properly then money could be withheld or recovered," Mr De Rossa told ireland.com. "And the Commission representative stressed this at our meeting," he added.
Campaigners have been arguing the EIS excluded key information and it emerged last month that the National Museum of Ireland would not have agreed with the issuing of an excavation licence for Carrickmines Castle had it been better informed about the site.
It has also emerged that the National Monuments Service (NMS) had raised concerns in July 1997 about the inadequacy of the draft EIS. Mr De Rossa included in his submission to the Committee a copy of a letter sent by the NMS noting: "It seems likely that the chosen route will uncover the subsurface remains of the foundations of Carrickmines Castle . . . the removal of a medieval structure such as this can be a serious issue".
The NMS sought "full descriptions of archaeological sites" in the final EIS. Mr De Rossa says this did not happen.
The quality of the EIS has been the subject of a lengthy court battle. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the need for joint consent in writing to authorise works involving the removal of a medieval fosse, or stone ditch, had not been met and ordered the work to stop.
A spokesman for the Carrickminders, Mr Vincent Salafia, says there are other examples of omissions. He says the "fosse" was discovered in the 1980s, along with a coin hoard during pipe-laying on the site. This information was also not included in the EIS.
The Commission is still examining documentation provided by the Irish authorities and The Friends of the Irish Environment, which has also lodged a complaint.