An Irish timber processing company has pleaded guilty to six separate charges of polluting the atmosphere at its plant in the east Clare village of Scarriff.
Company secretary of Finsa Forest Products Ltd, Michael O’Rourke, signed a plea of guilty on six separate charges to causing or permitting emissions at its plant exceeding the terms of its Integrated Pollution Control Licence issued to it by the Environmental Protection Agency in June 2006.
Last September, a District Court judge declined jurisdiction in the case at Killaloe District Court after hearing an outline of the evidence by the agency, according to a report in The Irish Times.
After jurisdiction was declined, the director of public prosecutions took on the prosecution and in court yesterday, State solicitor Martin Linnane said five of the 11 charges against the company could be struck out. Mr Linnane said the company was going forward on a signed plea to the Circuit Court on the remaining six charges.
Finsa Forest Products is one of the chief employers in east Clare. Its most recent accounts to the Companies Office show that it increased its profits from €601,000 in 2006 to €3m to the end of 2007.
The firm’s main activity is the sale of timber, mainly to distributors, kitchen manufacturers and businesses in the construction industry. Spanish group Financiera Madera SA owns Finsa.
