Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

The community has organised a group under the chairmanship of Eoghan Carroll - East Galway for a Lasting Environment - EAGLE. The group has highlighted the matter. The local authority has done everything it can. Every public representative from east Galway now and in the past tried to have the matter resolved. The HSE west should be asked to carry out a longitudinal study on the site in the interests of health. I call on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to immediately provide emergency funding to carry out remedial safety measures in the short term leading to the eventual remediation of the mine. I request that the EPA and the Department be invited before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to reveal the full detail of the technicalities outlined in the report. The EPA should provide the full details on the risk assessment detailed in the report. I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, does not read from a prepared script that will just give the history of the site without getting into the detail of what the Minister intends to do in this case as a matter of urgency.

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