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

I have heard many references to the "RTÉ Investigates" programme during the debate. While I have not watched it, I have extensive experience of dealing with quarries, landfills and so on in my constituency, both as a Deputy and previously as a member of the local authority. It is only fair at this point to go a little against the tide and say they are not all bad and they are not all the same. In fact, quarry owners and operators are employers and provide local employment, and they tend to be small, often family, businesses. In light of the jobs they provide, they have a secondary economic impact. It is tough, rough work that can be dangerous at times. Some of them take their obligations seriously, both as employers and in respect of safety, run a tight ship, and try to derive a profit margin for their employees and stakeholders, which should be recognised.

As always, the few ruin it for the many. The "RTÉ Investigates" programme suggested that one in eight quarries is unauthorised while more than one in eight may be authorised and follow the letter of the law but not the spirit. There are many cowboys in the sector. I am reminded of one in particular in my constituency, namely, the A1 waste facility in Kerdiffstown, near Sallins, which has practised every violation under the sun for more than 20 years. The EPA was initially slow to engage until it was forced to the table by local residents' associations. The landfill and former quarry came to a halt when a blaze broke out at Christmas a number of years ago that was visible from the M7, such was its extent. It drew national attention, and the EPA and Kildare County Council finally acted to address the issue, although it took far too long. The happy ending is that a public park will be developed on the site to become a public amenity with a path and connection to the greenway. I recognise the work of Kildare County Council and of the former Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, who was supportive of the project, as were his predecessors.

One of the secondary impacts of such operations, aside from the overspill on the immediate vicinity, is the impact on local roads. Local rural byroads tend to be traversed by heavy goods vehicles such as lorries and trucks entering and exiting, and it is often debatable whether the empty or laden trucks rattle more. Either way, they are not suitable for local rural roads. Sometimes, the State itself or State agencies can be complicit. I have previously raised in the House the issue of the Drehid landfill in north-west Kildare, a Bord na Móna site that has irritated many landowners and residents, not only in the immediate vicinity but along all the approach roads, from Prosperous and Clane to Sallins, Allenwood, Killeen and beyond, as truckers find the route of least resistance and plough through at high speeds in articulated lorries travelling in both directions many times a day. Broadford in north-west Kildare also suffers, and a recent example is the Millpond site, where water quality issues continue to be raised and fingers have been pointed at a number of local pits and operations. That may or may not be the case, but it certainly does not do anything to build the trust of the residents when it takes so long for their water to become drinkable. The media descended when there was a boil water notice for much of the greater Dublin area, but the residents of Broadford have been unable to drink the water for two or three years.

Some positives have emerged, not least in respect of the circular economy. Earlier in this Dáil term, I introduced an amendment to legislation on the potential for old mines to be rehabilitated to allow rare earth minerals, which are important components for electronics such as iPhones, to be extracted. For quarries, in the same way, we can tidy up legislation already in place. It is a good opportunity for the circular economy.

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