Vol. 574 No. 1
176 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the position in regard to the document served on the former operator of a facility (details supplied) in County Tipperary; the remedial work to be carried out at the dried out tailings pond at the mine site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26280/03]
As I explained in my reply on 7 October last, the former operator sent a detailed response on 18 June 2003 to the document served on it by the Chief State Solicitor. The response was quite positive and outlined its proposals for rehabilitation works on the tailings pond.
As a follow up to these proposals, it lodged an experimental plan for rehabilitation of the tailings pond with North Tipperary County Council in July and at the request of the local authority the plan was revised and resubmitted in August 2003. This latest plan was not acceptable to North Tipperary County Council and a further revision is awaited.
It was hoped to commence an experimental rehabilitation proposal this year but that now seems unlikely. With a view to firming up revised timeframes the Department met the county manager of North Tipperary County Council on 15 October last. A meeting with the former operator was scheduled for 5 November but had to be postponed to 10 November. The situation will be reviewed following consideration of the outcome of those consultations.
