Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister well knows that the grounds at the GAA club and village community centre in Magheracloone were damaged by the opening of that sinkhole. Land collapsed at the community centre in the immediate aftermath of the emergence of that sinkhole. Part of a road also collapsed with a significant impact on people getting around.

My concerns are centred around the safety of the roads, five homes and a national school in the area. Gyproc sent information leaflets to households explaining what was happening, which was fine to a point. Inspection holes were bored around the collapsed ground and instruments lowered in to confirm the state of the structures below. The holes were caused by pillars collapsing after water was pumped into a disused gypsum mine.

The subsidence in September affected a radius of about 120 m and another hole has since opened up in a nearby area. I accept it is a matter for the private company to deal with, but is it the Department's view that this is isolated to this particular mine structure, or is there a potential for similar events to happen at other disused mines or mine areas throughout the country? That is what concerns me. To what extent is the Department monitoring those disused mines and what kind of structure is in place to deal with that?

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