Irish cement manufacturers have warned that they will be forced to cut production unless they are given larger carbon dioxide emission limits.
The limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency followed an "unfair and inaccurate analysis", the Cement Manufacturers' Association of Ireland complained.
The industry, which includes the CRH-owned Irish Cement, Quinn Cement and Lagan Cement Ltd, employs 2,000 people directly and indirectly.
Warning that the National Development Plan could be hit, the association said the proposed licences, which were issued in September, would force shortages next year."The significant investment made in the four factories in Ireland to ramp up capacity to meet market demand in recent years is now being penalised.
"This is ironic in a situation where the industry is simply attempting to respond to Government-led development programmes."
The association said it had given notice during the first round of consultation organised by the EPA early this year that the emission limits were "of fundamental importance".
"If sufficient allowances are not given, the industry will have no choice but to cut back on capacity, with implications for the local economies in which our plants operate and the overall construction sector," it said.
In its own contribution, Irish Cement said the proposals would "unfairly discriminate" against it, without offering "any environmental benefit".
The agency had refused, the company said, to consider the €14 million a year investment made by the company at its plants in Platin, near Drogheda, Co Louth, and Limerick.
