I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time".
This Bill is essentially a technical precautionary measure which has been prepared in response to legal advice.
Its main purpose is to give specific statutory cover for certain long-standing practices for renewal of minerals prospecting licences and for charging fees for applications for certain State mining facilities. Its purpose is also to update the original penalties in the Minerals Development Act, 1940 and apply them to offences by companies and other organisations so as to maintain an effective deterrence against illegal mining and other offences.
Since the detailed explanatory and financial memorandum, which was published with the Bill, deals with all provisions of the Bill in quite some detail. I propose to concentrate my remarks on the general background to the Bill and on the reasons why, with the assistance of this House, the Bill should be enacted as soon as possible.
Since the Minerals Development Act, 1940 came into operation thousands of minerals prospecting licences have been granted by successive Ministers following public newspaper advertisement of the intention to grant the licence and consideration of any representations made. Representations are very rare indeed, which is hardly surprising given the responsible way in which holders of minerals prospecting licences generally conduct their business.
Many of those licences were renewed, in some cases a number of times, by successive Ministers, in good faith, including hundreds of licences currently in force. The long-standing practice of renewals and successive renewals has not given rise to any difficulty or challenge. Legal advice, however, has drawn attention to the lack of specific statutory provision for licence renewals and put the case that fresh licences should have been granted after the term of the original licences expired. Therefore, there is pressing need for legislation to validate all renewals to date and to specifically empower the Minister to renew any of those licences and any other licences granted in the future, where the Minister considers that renewal is justified in the particular circumstances of each case.
I draw the attention of the House to the fact that, in the interests of transparency, section 2 imposes the same obligation on the Minister to publicly advertise the intention to renew a minerals prospecting licence as applies when such a licence is to be granted for the first time in all cases.
There are currently 486 minerals prospecting licences in force of which about 300 would fall due for renewal in 1995, and the rest would fall due for renewal in 1996 or later. Details of minerals prospecting licences in force are given in the statutory report for the six-months to 31 December 1994 which I presented to this House and to Seanad Éireann on 2 February 1995. Clearly, without the legislation now proposed to effectively safeguard the status quo, there would be very considerable disruption to the renewal process for all concerned.
The essential focus of minerals prospecting activity is to identify as quickly as possible all commercially viable minerals deposits which could be developed and holders of minerals prospecting licences are encouraged to undertake minerals prospecting in a very active and systematic way.
Renewals of minerals prospecting licences are considered strictly on a case by case basis. Thus, whether the licence will be renewed in a particular case will depend, first, on whether the licensee seeks renewal of the licence. About 100 licences are surrendered each year by licensees some of whom seek licences for other areas perceived to be more prospective. If renewal is sought, the exploration and mining division of the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications would give particular attention to actual performance to date by the licensee including the submission of required work reports and compliance with the other conditions of the licence and with undertakings given and, if those were satisfactory, the licensee would have to enter into a commitment to undertake a specific further programme of exploration in the area in question before renewal of the licence would be agreed.
Geologists from the exploration and mining division of the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications closely monitor exploration activity by licensees and conduct many site visits throughout the State. Licensees are obliged to give to the division at least two weeks advance notice in writing of proposed borehole and shaft sinking to a depth of more than 20 feet below the surface and to obtain the division's written approval, at least 20 working days in advance, for proposed trenching operations; these requirements provide opportunities for the division's geologists to conduct particularly focused and detailed site visits, the outcome of which could have a direct bearing on whether the particular licences in question — or other licences held by the particular licensee — ought to be renewed.
Subject to meeting the requisite technical, financial and environmental criteria, and certain specific procedural requirements where privately-owned minerals are involved, a successful licensed minerals prospector would be favourably considered by my Department for the grant of a state mining facility. Every encouragement is given by the Department to licensees at minerals prospecting stage to work assiduously so as to identify viable deposits for development. The Department also assists licensees in identifying as early as possible all steps needed to be taken by the licensees to secure the necessary permits for the development from the relevant authorities, that is, the Department itself, the relevant local planning authority and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, as national licensing authority, must ensure that all proposals for mine development are thoroughly and expertly examined before permission is granted to proceed with them. The Minister must ensure that valuable national minerals resources are effectively and efficiently developed, and State revenues therefrom assured. In addition, in accordance with the obligation of each Minister to protect the environment, the Minister must also be satisfied, before permitting the development of national minerals resources that the development will cause as little harm as possible to the environment. Furthermore, the Local Government (Planning and Development) Regulations, 1994, stipulate that the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications must receive a copy of the environmental impact statement, prepared by the developer of any mine project, at the time the developer submits an application for planning permission to the relevant planning authority. Staff of the Department's exploration and mining division and of the Geological Survey of Ireland, which operates under the aegis of the Department, are directly involved in examining all proposals for mine projects.
In the case of small mine projects, involving minerals such as coal or industrial minerals generally, the engagement of external consultants would not usually be necessary. In the case of larger mine projects, however, the Minister needs the best possible independent advice. This is particularly so in cases involving base metals — such as the major proposed zinc-lead mines at Galmoy, County Kilkenny, and in my constituency at Lisheen, County Tipperary — which would have major infrastructural and financial considerations as well as possible implications for the environment. In such cases the Minister requires the best mining practices and minimising, if not avoiding, all important long term negative effects of the mines if they were to proceed to be brought to his attention. This means the Minister has to call for advice from suitably qualified and experienced external consultants from relevant disciplines and having the required international standing. Because of the small number of mines in the State, independent expert advice of the required level would not ordinarily be available from within the State except in relation to some limited aspects of mine projects.
Where applications for a State mining lease or licence are successful, the practice has been to recoup handling costs as part of the fees for the State mining facility for the project. There is no mechanism in place to recoup handling costs necessarily incurred by the Minister in considering applications which turned out to be unsuccessful or are later withdrawn for any reason. Section 5 is designed to fill the gap in the Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1979, by specifically requiring all applicants for State mining leases or licences to pay an appropriate fee with their applications. As heretofore, the handling fee will be kept as low as possible consistent with a thorough independent assessment of each application.
The need to legislate for renewal of minerals prospecting licences and for application fees to be charged for State mining facilities gives me the opportunity to legislate also for updating the original penalties in the 1940 Act for a variety of offences. The penalties have become derisory through the fall in the value of money. The offences relate to illegal working of minerals, obstruction of authorised persons and failure to provide required information to the Minister. Clearly, there is continuing need to deter would-be offenders by having updated penalties which can be applied specifically to offences committed by individuals whether acting alone or acting behind a corporate veil. Sections 6 and 7 will allow the courts to impose penalties fitting particular offences and circumstances if such should arise in the future.
I am determined that, with the proper application of modern technology and mining techniques, the mineral resources of the nation will be developed with proper safeguards for the environment. These are national assets which must be developed actively and responsibly to achieve the maximum benefit in terms of job creation, increasing national wealth and underpinning industrial growth. It is vital that every effort be made to locate all commercially viable mineral reserves and, having done so, to bring them into production as efficiently as possible. My aim is to support as strongly as I can the principle of sustaining development for the benefit of the nation as a whole.
As this House will be aware, the previous Government established a review group under the chairmanship of Peter Quinn to undertake a fundamental review of national minerals policy and the Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1979. I requested the group to report to me with recommendations early next month. I shall arrange to have copies of the report presented to both Houses of the Oireachtas.
My intention is to seek Government decisions on the review group's recommendations as quickly as possible after I have received and considered the report. It is not possible to say now whether there will be a further Minerals Development Bill in 1995 or what such a Bill might contain.
The Bill before the House does not prejudice the fundamental review of national minerals policy or of the Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1979, which is in progress. Rather, the Bill is required to fill as quickly as possible important gaps in the Minerals Development Acts which have come to our attention. I commend the Bill to the House.