Regarding Ansbacher (Cayman)

CRH PLC
8 July 2002


July 8, 2002


STATEMENT BY CRH plc

REGARDING ANSBACHER (CAYMAN) LIMITED

In CRH's 2001 Annual Report issued in April 2002, shareholders were advised that
a Report arising from official enquiries in Ireland into the affairs of
Ansbacher (Cayman) Limited was expected to be published within a matter of
months. The official Report was made public on Saturday 6 July 2002.

The Report has found that Ansbacher (Cayman) Limited carried on a banking
business in Ireland without holding a licence to do so and that the late Mr.
J.D. Traynor, a former non-executive Chairman of CRH plc from 1987 until 1994,
facilitated the carrying on of that banking business for the period 1971 to
1994. For the period 1989 to 1994 he used his office in CRH's Registered Office
in Dublin, which is separately located from CRH's Group Headquarters, to
facilitate these activities. This was unauthorised and was carried out without
the knowledge of CRH. Mr. Traynor wrongfully used CRH facilities and personnel
under his direct control. The Report has concluded that CRH did not knowingly
assist Mr. Traynor in carrying out these activities. This conclusion is
consistent with the findings from CRH's own internal investigations of the issue
and previous statements made by CRH.

The Report states that CRH must bear some responsibility for the fact that the
activities of Ansbacher continued for the period 1989 to 1994. This appears to
be based on the assumption that the Company's systems of corporate governance
could have discovered these activities. However, the reality is that the
information contained in the Report was not available to the Company at that
time and these activities were not detected.

It is a matter of great regret to CRH that its former Chairman should have
misused its facilities and personnel in this manner. This represented a grave
breach of trust by Mr. Traynor. Following the emergence of this issue the Code
of Conduct for the Office of Chairman, which has always been a non-executive
office, has been formalised within CRH. In addition, an independent review of
CRH's corporate governance was commissioned. As advised in our 1999 Annual
Report this review confirmed that a strong culture of governance and
professionalism exists at Board level, in line with best international practice
and that this is reflected across the organisation.





Contact: [phone]

Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive

Harry Sheridan, Finance Director

Myles Lee, General Manager - Finance

CRH plc, Belgard Castle, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, Ireland TELEPHONE [phone]
FAX [phone]

E-MAIL [e-mail] WEBSITE www.crh.com Registered Office, 42 Fitzwilliam
Square, Dublin 2, Ireland



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