Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 21 Apr 1998

Vol. 489 No. 6

Written Answers. - Prospecting Licences.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

185 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the criteria for the granting of prospecting licences; the role, if any, of local authorities in the process; the planning principles, if any, that apply in moving from prospecting to mining; and the considerations which led to his decision to give notice of intention to grant prospecting licences to a company (details supplied) over townlands in County Monaghan. [8826/98]

Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources (Dr. Woods)

The criteria for the grant of prospecting licences are as set out in section 7 (1) of the Minerals Development Act, 1940 and in the Minerals Development Regulations, 1979 and 1994 (S. I. No. 340 of 1979 and S.I. No. 319 of 1994). The grant of prospecting licences is at the absolute discretion of the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources under section 7 (1). Prospecting for minerals is an exempt activity under the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts because of its non intrusive nature and minimal environmental effect.

To construct and operate a mine for the extraction of State minerals, a developer would require a State Mining Facility under the Minerals Development Acts 1940 to 1995. The grant of such a facility would be conditional,inter alia, on the developer first having planning permission from the local authority and an integrated pollution control licence from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), both of which require presentation and publication of an environmental impact statement as part of the applications. Hence, in addition to satisfying me of technical competence, economic viability and environmental robustness of the proposal, the developer must also satisfy the local authority and the EPA through public consultative processes.

My decision to give notice of intention to grant prospecting licences in the case mentioned by the Deputy was based on advice given to me and my being satisfied that the application met the criteria laid down by the law. There is no application for a mining facility in this area before me at present and I would expect that considerable further exploration followed by mine design would be needed before such an application could be submitted.