Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022
104. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the outputs of the Tellus programme; the impact of not having the data if the programme is discontinued; the purposes for which the data is used; the specific Government Departments that also utilise the data and the purposes for which they use it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27969/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Tellus survey is a national airborne geophysical and ground geochemical survey managed by Geological Survey Ireland, which is a division of my Department. The data collected are used to help our understanding of the soils, rocks and natural stream waters in Ireland and are used across a number of different sectors. The survey is currently at 80% completion for airborne geophysics and nearly 70% completion for soil geochemistry. This coverage has taken 10 years to achieve. The full benefits of the survey data will not be realised until national coverage is completed which will then support national-scale product development and policy linkages.
