Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is an ongoing legacy issue. A number of people before me have spoken about this. My own family worked in the mines for generations up until the 1980s. This cannot go on. The CPO process for the Gortmore tailings pond was started by the Minister's predecessor and I understood it was ongoing. There is no way we can allow €11 million to be invested into lands and then have the owner of those lands run horses across the lands, destroying the investment. We also have other sites now that are for sale.

Currently, as I stand here in this Chamber, there are two families, who are dairy farmers, whose land is contaminated to the point where their milk is no longer accepted. There are other issues here. There are legacy issues here that are so deep that it will not be possible to remediate these lands and invest in them unless the State compulsorily purchases them. We need to complete the compulsory purchase order of the tailings pond area in Gortmore. The idea that these lands could be sold for development is absolutely criminal. The State needs to own these lands and I ask the Minister to ensure that it happens. I am not expecting it to be done tomorrow, but I would ask him to ensure the lands around this very positive development are mapped out and a process and plan is put in place to compulsorily purchase these areas for the benefit of all the people living there, for human health and animal health.

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