Since January 2002, the Department has been in consultation with Kilkenny County Council and the National Roads Authority concerning route options for the proposed N9-N10 roadway – Kildare to Waterford. The Department was anxious to ensure that none of the proposed options would interfere with the working of an existing dolomite mine or sterilise future reserves of the mineral in the vicinity of Maddoxtown, County Kilkenny. The Department wrote to Kilkenny County Council on 29 August 2002 formally objecting to any road proposals that would threaten the viability of minerals extraction. At subsequent meetings, Kilkenny County Council was informed that the question of compensation in respect of lost royalties would arise where minerals were sterilised. In all, four meetings were held. The estimated figure for compensation is in the order of €2 million in a scenario where the lowest volume of minerals are sterilised. The figure could be considerably higher.
On the other issues raised, there is an existing mining lease held by a private operator that expires in December 2008. There are no proposals for extending this lease, and discussions have not taken place with the lessee for a further extension. The Department will consider applications for exploitation of the mineral reserves south of the existing mine from suitably qualified operators.
