Vol. 446 No. 7
171 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he will provide all details of communications by letter, telephone, fax or face to face meetings between him, his Minister of State and any officials of Kilkenny County Council and any official of his Department between 25 April 1993, and 5 May 1993, in relation to the planning application to Kilkenny County Council of a company (details supplied) for a mine. [2948/94]
The records in my Department for the period between 25 April 1993 and 5 May 1993 show that the report of my Department on the Environmental Impact Statement submitted by Arcon Mines Limited for the proposed mine development near Galmoy, County Kilkenny was forwarded to Kilkenny County Council on 26 April 1993.
On 28 April 1993, Kilkenny County Council telephoned my Department and spoke with a senior official in my Department to seek clarification of a sentence in the report of RPS Cairns which, he stated, appeared to be inconsistent with the body of the report and was, therefore, open to misinterpretation. The county council requested that the Department seek clarification from the consultants RPS Cairns. Following contact with RPS Cairns, details of which I gave in my reply to Private Notice Questions on 26 October 1994, a senior official of my Department telephoned the Kilkenny County Council on 29 April to say that the consultants had indicated that the particular sentence was indeed open to misinterpretation and at variance with the body of the report and they wished to delete it. Arrangements were then made by telephone for the submission of an amended report to Kilkenny County Council.
On 5 May 1993, my Department received a letter dated 4 May 1993 from Kilkenny County Council enclosing a submission to the council from Arcon Mines Limited comprising a summary compilation of numerous working papers in connection with the mine closure costs for the Galmoy project. These documents were forwarded by the county council to my Department for any comments it might have. My Department responded to that letter on 12 May 1993.
