Disposal

CRH PLC
12 December 2006

                                 NEWS RELEASE

                                                                12 December 2006


                     CRH ANNOUNCES SELECTIVE APAC DISPOSALS

CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces good progress in
integrating the operations of Ashland Paving and Construction (APAC) which was
acquired by CRH's US subsidiary, Oldcastle Materials, Inc. in August 2006.  The
integration has focused on overhead reductions and disposals aimed at enhancing
the materials focus of APAC.

The disposals, in six separate transactions, of certain APAC contracting and
asphalt activities in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Texas and Virginia have
realised combined cash proceeds of approximately US$ 215 million (US$ 195
million net of tax).  In the 12 months ending June 2006, sales from the disposed
operations amounted to US$ 520 million, with EBITDA of approximately US$ 30
million before charging depreciation and amortisation of US$ 18 million.  In the
same period, these operations produced 6.7 million tons of asphalt using
externally sourced aggregates.

Commenting on these developments, Liam O'Mahony, CRH Chief Executive, said '
These selective disposals completed over the past three months are consistent
with our stated objective of transitioning APAC from its previous emphasis of '
construction with materials' to the Oldcastle model of 'materials with
construction'.  We are pleased with the progress achieved to-date both in
relation to these disposals and in the ongoing realisation of the administration
and operational synergies indicated with the acquisition of APAC'.


Contact CRH at Dublin 404 1000 ([phone])
Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive
Myles Lee, Finance Director
Eimear O'Flynn, Head of Investor Relations
Maeve Carton, Group Controller


       CRH plc, Belgard Castle , Clondalkin, Dublin 22, Ireland TELEPHONE
                       +353.1.4041000 FAX [phone]

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


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