Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator O'Meara for raising this matter, which was last addressed in the House on 27 January 2005. The House will be aware that the Minister requested the Department to deliver to him, during February of this year, a comprehensive report on the current position concerning the Silvermines area. The report was to deal with the current state of the Department's consultations with all stakeholders, especially the local community and on the Department's efforts to obtain from Mogul a credible and implementable remediation proposal that would effectively and finally address the long-standing concerns of the local community, to which Senator O'Meara referred.

In addition, the report was to address the issue of the legal responsibility of the company, under clause K of its State mining lease, to remediate the company mine workings in the Silvermines area. It was also required to outline and assess the technical and financial capacity of Mogul to design an appropriate remediation programme and to carry out the necessary work, as well as the legal and other issues arising in that context. Moreover, it was to include the consolidated and up-to-date views of the local community, the Department's own consultants, the EPA and the local authority on the most recent Mogul proposals. The Minister also requested that the report address the implications, at a broad policy level, of any decision not to proceed with a dialogue with Mogul and the consequences, in principle and in practice, of taking an alternative route.

The House will appreciate that in light of the complex nature of the issues before the Minister and the implications of a decision from a practical, policy, legal and financial perspective, it is imperative that the matter receives careful consideration by him. It is clear that there are fundamental questions of principle involved in bringing this matter to a conclusion. For instance, is it appropriate that the company responsible for the remediation be let off the hook, given its legal responsibilities? Is it appropriate that the taxpayer should be drawn into funding a remediation that is a private, legal responsibility? What are the wider implications for public policy of any direct State involvement in remediation? Another question concerns the implications, for the timing of effective and final remediation of all of the Silvermines clause K sites, of taking the Mogul, as opposed to other possible routes. Finally, what should the public policy position be regarding the non-clause K sites in the area and, indeed, other mine waste sites elsewhere?

The Minister can make no apologies for any perceived delay on his part in progressing this complex and difficult matter. Despite the comprehensive nature of the report the Minister received, there are further questions to be answered and consultations to occur, as part of the deliberation process. Only then will the Minister be satisfied that the chosen way forward on this issue makes public policy sense from the broader perspective and is in the best interests of all stakeholders.

I assure the House that the Minister will progress this matter in full recognition of its urgency and the long-standing concerns of the local community. However, he also has to have regard to its sensitivity from a legal point of view and to the ultimate need to make a decision that is consistent with good public policy principles. He undertakes to lay out the position in a comprehensive manner when he has fully and carefully considered all of the issues I have outlined.