Covanta, the company behind Dublin's controversial incinerator at Poolbeg, has written off €16.5m for work undertaken on the project up to the end of September.
In its quarterly update to the markets, Covanta said a further €5.3m in spending could be recovered by way of insurance.
RTÉ News asked Covanta if today's statement meant the company could claim only €16.5m in compensation if Dublin City Council terminated the Poolbeg contract.
While stating that the company intended to proceed, a Covanta spokesperson said: 'Given that the parties continue to progress the project, it is not appropriate for us to comment on possible compensation.'
In a conference call with investors today, Covanta CEO Tony Orlando described Poolbeg as 'an unusual situation'. He added that while it would be 'a real shame' for the project to die, 'I can assure you we will only invest if and when it makes sense for Covanta'.
Mr Orlando said that because all contractual conditions had not been reached by last month's deadline, 'we have no obligation to proceed with the project on the original terms'.
He said: 'At this point we intend to move forward only after project financing is secured, and given the uncertainty created by the environment, we have determined it's appropriate from an accounting perspective to write off our entire investment, net of recoverable amounts.'
