Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy

Climate Change Targets 2026-2030: Discussion (Resumed)

2:00 am

Mr. P.J. Ryan:

This would be greenfield soil and stone. To meet the definition of greenfield soil and stone, there cannot be any invasive species in it. That would have to be treated as brownfield and would have to go through a whole separate process. A lot of the issues of construction and moving soil and stone around relate to the fact that it is a timing issue for projects. These are very heavy materials to move so there is a good deal of expense involved. While you might know that there is a project coming up that might require greenfield soil and stone, you have to move it because your project is moving and there is a timing issue. The other point is that sometimes there are lots of aggregates in greenfield soil and stone, so you could actually screen it, wash it and get sand and other materials out of it, depending on the type. There is a huge opportunity there, potentially, to reuse materials more efficiently.

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