On 17 August 2017, in accordance with the relevant legislation, my Department issued a public notification announcing my intention to issue prospecting licences with regard to Prospecting Licence (PL) areas 1695 and 4087 in County Cavan. In early September, in response to that notification process, my Department received a number of objections to the proposed granting of these licences.
At the end of the public consultation period, all the submissions received were considered and, on 28 September 2017, my Department issued a letter to all of those who had raised objections responding to the issues raised. The issues addressed in that letter included the formal/legal provisions for public notice and consultation; environmental safeguarding, conservation and heritage concerns; the farming community and access to land; and the difference between prospecting and mining. The legislative provisions underpinning the administration and consideration of Prospecting Licences were also clarified in the Department’s letter.
Although the majority of objections received were in the form of a template letter circulated by the Cavan Mining Objection Group (CMOG), a small number of individual objections were also received. The issues raised in the individual objections mirrored the concerns of the CMOG letters and the response of 28 September sought to address all of the issues as comprehensively as possible. A copy of that response was provided to the Deputy for his information.
On 6 October 2017, further correspondence was received by email from the Cavan Mining Objection Group repeating their objections to the proposed granting of the prospecting licences and seeking the information provided in the letter of 28 September to be further clarified in relation to the specific concerns that had been previously raised. The letter is now being considered by my officials and a full response will issue as soon as possible. I have asked my officials to ensure that the Deputy is copied on that response.
