James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a question on geosurveying and topological surveys. It is something I raised when the Minerals Development Bill was before the House a few weeks ago. A notion has come from recent research that rare earth minerals which are very valuable and used in iPhones and other consumer technology manifest in slag heaps in a mine previously in use which was abandoned or discontinued and thought to have exhausted its commercial potential. In recent research at the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences, iCRAG, which I think is a Science Foundation Ireland centre for geological research it has been discovered that some of these rare earth minerals are present in some of the slag heaps. This presents an opportunity because typically it is the site of a mine which has been abandoned or is disused and which may or may not have been remediated or cleansed and dealt with. Some of the mines may be quite old and may not have been subjected to the full rigours of development. At the same time, they contain a valuable commodity in the form of these rare earth minerals. I know that I mentioned the Minerals Development Bill, but it was news to me and I think it is a relatively recent discovery. Have there been any forays into that area? Has it been covered in geological surveys, or is it in the Department's work plan for the year ahead to investigate the opportunities that may present?