Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD has attended the contract signing for the remediation of 'Haulbowline Island Bridges', a key infrastructural component of the remediation project for the former steelworks site on Haulbowline Island.

The Minister said: "This major contract to carry out the necessary repairs and remediation of the Haulbowline Island Bridge is a key infrastructural element of the remediation project. Repairs to the bridge will facilitate the transportation of the potentially large volumes of construction materials which may be brought to the Island by road.

"I welcome the decision by An Bord Pleanala to grant planning permission for the remediation of the East Tip and eagerly await the EPA decision on the application for a waste licence. The project is now entering an exciting phase where the hard work that has been going on behind the scenes will now lead to construction activity on the island."

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Cork County Council is acting as agent of the Minister in the remediation of Haulbowline Island. The contract valued at €1.85m is being awarded by Cork County Council to L&M Keating Ltd., and is for an extensive repair and remediation of the existing bridge access to the Island. The work, which will extensively upgrade the current bridge infrastructure, will address the significant infrastructural access demands involved in carrying out the remediation of Haulbowline while facilitating the future development of the Island and surrounding areas in the longer term.

A planning application for works on the East Tip of Haulbowline was lodged with An Bord Pleanála on 30 October 2013 and the waste licence application was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency on 14 November 2013.

An Bord Pleanala held a public hearing on the application on 19 March 2014 and the Bord granted planning permission for the remediation by decision dated 1 May 2014.

(CD/JP)