Éamon Ó Cuív presses minister over Connemara prospecting licences

Eamon O'Keefe, 30 seconds to put your question. Minister, as you know, there has been great concern in Connemara regarding both the proposal to award new prospecting licenses and also to renew old ones. And I think we need clarity about the process that's going on, the date that these decisions will be made, and how far you've gone with the evaluation of the applications and the number of applications. Thank you. Thank you very much, Deputy. The Department currently, just for the record, have no new prospecting licenses applications for the Connemara electoral area. In March 2019, Gold Note Minerals requested an extension of three existing prospecting licenses, which has held since the 21st of June 2013. My intention to renew these licenses was published in the Connemara Tribune on the 26th of July 2019, and was open for consultation for 30 days. These licenses cover the following townlands in Galway. And I hope I've announced them all right for you, Deputy. Details, including a map for the license area, was available for inspection at Clifton and Mayham Garda stations, Galway County Council offices, and at the Geological Survey Ireland office in Dublin. The notice was also published on my department's website, and the application remains under consideration by my department, and a decision is expected in the coming weeks. Mr. Minister, the whole idea of even considering issuing mining licenses in an area like that baffles me. Because, as you know, what you're talking about here is the Man Valley and the Curnomona area, and it's contiguous to La Carab, and a lot of the land around us, including the full lake, are SACs. It's hard to see how mining is compatible, reading all the literature, with the preservation of the incredibly sensitive ecology of the area. Minister, why isn't there a policy, as you have for the national parks, as you have for Crowpatrick, that would say that in areas that are designated SAC, SPA, or NHA, that no new mining would be allowed in the future? Wouldn't that be a much more honest way of dealing with the issue, not only for the mining companies, because they wouldn't waste their money mining for minerals they could never mine, but also for the local communities, who have had the burden of these designations, and should, you would think, at least be sure that, having lived and preserved the designations, that they would be the beneficiaries in terms of nothing being allowed in the area that would damage these very, very important ecological areas? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy. Aris Todd? To reiterate, a prospecting licence relates to prospecting only, and does not give the licence holder permission to mine. I think we have to restate that. Also, there is, at the moment, it's the prerogative of these mining companies, or prospecting companies, to actually apply for the licences. And we have to deal with the applications, and we have a public consultation process in that. And I suppose a number of submissions were received during the consultation process, and there were also a number of representations and queries from local people and politicians, in addition to an online petition which gathered over 5,000 signatures. The submissions are currently being reviewed, and the decision on whether to renew these licences is currently under consideration. So, I think that, you know, a lot of the issues that were raised included, you know, prospecting will damage the environment, the threat posed to tourism, the threat to farming, all of these will be taken into account in the evaluation process. Thank you. I think it's important to say that this process is being looked at, looked at in an open way, and that there is nothing hidden here. And these are prospecting licences only. Thank you. Final comment, Deputy O'Keefe. The Prime Minister, the State made the decision that they wouldn't even look for prospecting licences, or bids for prospecting licences, in national parks and in Crowpatrick, for the very reason that they would never issue a mining licence there anyway. And my question is very, very simple. Why doesn't the same principle apply in relation to areas that are designated SACSPA? That's a very, very simple question, because it would be utterly rational that one, these areas would be protected, and it's not possible that mining would be compatible with the preservation of the status of these areas. And on the other hand, it is stupid to say to me, well, there are only prospecting licences, but no disrespect, Minister. Because why would a company look for a prospecting licence if there was no chance, because of the designations of the areas, that they would ever be granted a mining licence? So the presumption is, that the companies must believe they'd get a mining licence, and these are powerful entities. Because otherwise, why would they bother wasting their money, looking for the prospecting licence, and actually doing the prospecting? Thank you very much. Final comment. Just to give clarity, it is the policy of the Department not to issue any prospecting licences over national parks, as published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. In certain exceptional circumstances, the National Parks and Wildlife Service may agree to the issue of a prospecting licence over an area which contains part of the national park, which will enhance the knowledge and be of interest to the national park. Exploration activity within or in close proximity to the Special Area of Conservation or Special Protection Area and the SPA require prior permission from the Department. This involves submitting a Screening for Appropriate Assessment report, specific to the proposed activities. A Stage 1 Screening for Appropriate Assessment would then be carried out, specific to the exact location, and conservation objectives of the Special Protection Area, the SAC and the SPA. Any proposed drilling or trenching, regardless of its location within the prospective licence, requires screening for appropriate assessment by the Compton Authority, the Exploration and Mining Division of the Department. Drilling submissions are also required to be assessed to determine where the screening under the EIA Directive is necessary. So there is a good suite of hurdles to be jumped before you get the prospecting licence. Thank you and that's painful.