A Minister of State has accused the media of running a “misinformation campaign” against the Aughinish Alumina plant in his constituency. Limerick Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State Niall Collins also claimed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy had “overstated” his concerns about exports from the Irish plant. Collins said there was “no evidence” and “no proof” that the alumina that leaves the Limerick facility “ends up in what’s been described as the Russian military complex”. Collins was speaking as the Government prepares to send its long-awaited report on the export of alumina to Russia from the Aughinish plant in Limerick to the European Commission. It is expected that the report will find there is insufficient evidence to conclude that alumina from the plant is not ending up in Russian weapons, but it will say that it is not possible to conclude definitely that Aughinish is supplying the Russian arms industry. “There’s no proof either way, and I think the report will probably help both the Government and the European Commission to square that circle, because that’s a kind of a virtual circle that’s going around,” Collins told RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with David McCullagh. He said he believed there were “many organisations” that could offer oversight and verification to prove that alumina exported from Ireland to Russia leaves Russia as aluminium and is not involved in war. Collins accused Zelenskiy, who has repeatedly raised concerns about the use of alumina exported from Ireland, of overstating the issue. “I think he overstated it. Every tonne of alumina, he said, goes into the Russian military complex, and he can’t verify or stand over that,” Collins said.[ Sanctions on Aughinish Alumina; criminal court shutdown; and outpatient waiting listsOpens in new window ]“And what the workers are keen to point out, and I’m keen to point it out on their behalf, is that there has been no law, regulation, condition of licence or EU sanction has been broken by the Aughinish plant. And they have been subjected to a campaign of misinformation by some within the media and indeed by some within the political environment.“The point I’m making to you is this: the question has been asked, and allegations have been made and it can’t be proven or disproven one way or another. But there are oversight mechanisms which can be put in place, and I’m sure the European Commission will look at that when they receive a report from the Irish Government.”An investigation by The Irish Times in conjunction with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, which was carried out in March, found Limerick-produced alumina had entered Russia’s weapons supply chain.Revised figures provided by the Central Statistics Office last week showed half of the alumina produced in the plant in the first quarter of this year went to Russia, up from 43 per cent last year.