Sinn Féin has called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) to investigate the recent uncontrolled release incident at Poolbeg Incinerator in Dublin.

11 workers were hospitalised after they were surrounded by lime cloud during work to take down scaffolding on Wednesday, 07 June.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Action and the Environment, Brian Stanley TD, said a parent company of the operator, Dublin Waste to Energy Ltd, has already been fined in the United States for breaches of emissions regulations, as well as the release of carcinogenic toxins and dioxides.

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"It has also been cited for many breaches of workplace safety by the US Department of Labor.  So a precedent has already been set," he said.

"People need to be reinsured that the Poolbeg plant is safe both in terms of operation for workers and of emissions into our environment. The highest safety standards must be enforced.

"This current incident of an 'uncontrolled release' at the incinerator needs to be thoroughly investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Safety Authority and we hope that all workers fully recover."

(LM/MH)