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

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 75, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“Revitalisation

137. (1) In the two years following the commencement of this section, the Minister shall initiate an open investigative process on the potential reuse of abandoned mines and associated waste.(2) This process shall be managed by the Environmental Protection Agency, and consider the following factors:

(a) the potential economic value of rare earth mineral deposits present in the aforementioned mines and associated waste,

(b) the possible utility of said mines for research.

(3) Following its completion, the findings of this investigative process should be published in an open and public manner, following which a 6 month-long period of public consultation shall ensue. During this period of consultation, members of the public and other interested parties shall be free to submit their views on this report.”.

This amendment seeks to achieve a degree of reuse of abandoned mines. I have had conversations with SFI research centres and iCRAG and read various research reports on the issue. It seems that many abandoned sites may contain slag heaps or unnecessary or unwanted materials which formerly would have been considered as waste. Many of these materials have potential economic value, especially rare earth minerals which are extremely valuable and used in electronic devices such as the iPhone. There are other opportunities also. In France old mines have become vineyards because the soil and the detritus have advantages in producing wine. The older the terrilthe more likely it is to encourage fermentation and growth. That might not be ideal in the Irish climate, but other options could be pursued or at least investigated. What was thrown to one side in the past may have the opportunity to become useful again.

The intention of the amendment is not to pass judgment on whether it is possible but to invite the EPA to perform a study to investigate the potential and report back in two years. There may be opportunities to remediate some mines along the way. We could take a mine that was abandoned and not tidied up in the most environmentally efficient fashion and repurpose it to extract new value or close it properly. Any reactivity on abandoned mine sites should be subject to community consultation. To this end, the amendment would allow for a six-month consultation process before any such action would be taken. I hope the Minister and members will support the amendment as it potentially offers a new lease of life, as well as supporting the circular economy. Rather than taking, using and disposing, we would reduce, reuse and recycle, which is at the heart of what the committee is trying to do.