There has been a move to resolve a crisis that is facing the aggregates sector of quarrying in Northern Ireland.

Diane Dodds, the DUP MEP, met with Vice-President of the European Commission, Joaquín Almunia, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg and afterwards said: "At present our local aggregates industry is facing a major crisis with the possibility of the aggregates levy credit scheme being suspended in the Province while a full review by the European Commission is carried out.

"Currently businesses can claim an 80% tax rebate on aggregates quarried in Northern Ireland, however, due to recent court action the European Commission's decision of 2004 to support the levy scheme has been annulled.

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"In light of this, I have met with Commissioner Almunia to express my concerns over the situation and to try and gain some assurances for the future of the scheme.

"There are almost 4,000 people employed in the aggregates sector in the Province, producing 400 million GBP worth of products a year. The withdrawal of this scheme could prove to be devastating for not only the aggregates industry, but has the potential to have a huge knock-on effect on our construction industry," she said.

It has been estimated that the suspension of this levy will cost the public sector construction budget an additional £25m.

"At a time when we are fighting to maintain what we already have in the face of massive budget cuts this is an added expense that we can not afford in the current economic climate," she concluded.

(GK/BMcC)