Three employees at Corrib gas refinery in Mayo test positive for Covid-19

The refinery owner Vermilion Exploration & Production Ireland Ltd has confirmed that it is re-testing all 70 specialist workers, who had been engaged for essential maintenance works at the Bellanaboy refinery.

Three British-based contractors employed on the Corrib gas refinery in north Mayo have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

The refinery owner Vermilion Exploration & Production Ireland Ltd has confirmed that it is re-testing all 70 specialist workers, who had been engaged  for essential maintenance works at the Bellanaboy refinery.

The three people who have returned a positive test had not quarantined after arriving in Ireland.

The three, all of whom are said to be asymptomatic, were “tested the same day they arrived in Ireland and restricted their movements while awaiting their results”, according to Vermilion.

“ They will now quarantine for the next 14 days, and will be tested again before being allowed to work,” it said in a statement.

As a further precaution we are re-testing all of the contractors who have travelled to Ireland in the past two weeks,” the company said.

It also said that “close contacts” of the three cases are “being identified and contacted by the Health Service Executive (HSE)."

Vermilion, which has a 20 per cent ownership share in Corrib, took over operation of the Corrib gas field in 2018, after Royal Dutch Shell sold its share of the project to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

There are currently between 60 and 70 people working onsite daily, the company said.

Vermilion said that “as part of our internal Covid-19 protocols, we pro-actively test all non-Irish specialist contractors when they arrive in the country”.

“All contract workers need to return a negative COVID-19 test before they can enter our facilities and  start work,”it said. 

“All of these individuals are required to restrict their movements and follow public health guidance when not at work,”it said.

Asked if such contractors are obliged to quarantine, it said that under the EU “Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during Covid-19 outbreak (2020/C 102 I/03)” ,  they were deemed essential staff.

Under the EU guidelines,  member states are “requested to allow workers to enter the territory of the host member state and have unhindered access to their place of work”, it said.

“At all times, we have carefully followed the protocols and advice issued by the Health Service Executive, the Department of Health and the Department of Foreign Affairs,”it said.

Vermilion said that “we are reassured that our protocols are working and we were able to identify and isolate cases swiftly”, adding that “he health and safety of our workforce and the local community is our first priority”.

“We want to assure the community that we are actively managing the situation and working with the HSE and regulators,”it said.

Sinn Féin TD for Mayo Rose Conway-Walsh said the situation was “very worrying” and clarification was required on whether the contractors had “been out in the community”.

“As far as I am concerned the rules set by national government have to apply to everyone where everyone who comes into Ireland should quarantine for 14 days,”she said.

“The Government needs to clarify if EU guidelines usurp national guidelines, and needs to communicate that very clearly to all of us,”she said.

“People here in the community are doing their very best to follow guidelines, and keep everyone safe and they deserve answers,”she said.