Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I am taking the debate on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, who is at an official function.

Since the matter was last raised in the House in April 2005 there has been substantial progress on the rehabilitation project, which I am happy to outline here today. On the previous occasion the matter was raised, the then Minister outlined the Department's priority to put in place a credible remediation proposal that would effectively address the long-standing concerns of the local community. Furthermore, priority was also placed on addressing the issue of the legal responsibility of Mogul of Ireland Limited to remediate the mine workings under clause K of its mining lease dating from 1965.

I will outline the history of the Department's attempts to get the leaseholder to meet its legal liabilities. Mogul of Ireland Limited was first put on notice by the Department in December 1999 about its liability. However, after a number of meetings and various proposals put forward by the company throughout 2003 and 2004, serious doubts began to emerge concerning the company's financial and technical capability to carry out the works to the standard required. The Department finally concluded that Mogul could not deliver a satisfactory rehabilitation programme, and that further dialogue on this issue would serve no purpose. The EPA and North Tipperary County Council, which worked closely with the Department and its consultants at all stages, concurred with this view.

The Department, through the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, moved to enforce compliance on Mogul through the courts. In January 2007, it formally issued a motion for judgment on Mogul in the High Court. While settlement talks were ongoing in this matter Mogul went into liquidation in July 2007. The Department is continuing to seek a satisfactory resolution to this matter with Mogul's liquidator, although given the limited assets of the company the potential for a return commensurate with the cost of the rehabilitation works is minimal.

Aside from the enforcement of the company's legal liabilities, the Department has actively engaged in preparing plans for the rehabilitation of the area, implementation of which required new legislation. The power of the Minister to undertake, or procure the undertaking of such works is not specifically provided for in the Minerals Development Acts. Special provisions were therefore included in the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 to give the Minister powers to expend funds on mine rehabilitation projects. In addition, the Act conferred upon the Minister or his agent powers to prepare and implement mine rehabilitation plans, as well as powers of entry onto land where necessary. The Minister was also given powers of compulsory acquisition of lands where necessary for the purposes of implementation of mine rehabilitation plans. These are essential to ensure that the project could be planned and progressed without running the risk of encountering unnecessary and possibly lengthy delays. The Act also contained a provision giving the Minister or his agents discretionary powers to recover State expenditure on rehabilitated lands.

These legislative provisions were an interim measure pending enactment of a comprehensive minerals development Bill, which is currently with the Parliamentary Counsel of the Office of the Attorney General for drafting. The Minister hopes to bring the legislation to Government later this year and the interim legislation will be repealed when it is enacted.

In June 2005, the Government approved the appointment of North Tipperary County Council as the Minister's agent for the carrying out of the rehabilitation project. In 2006, following a competitive tendering process, North Tipperary County Council appointed Golder Associates to finalise the design and manage the implementation of the rehabilitation programme as set out in the conceptual plans prepared by SRK Consulting in 2005. This work continued throughout 2007, with particular focus on the Gortmore site.

The Minister is pleased to inform the House that Part 8 planning permission for the rehabilitation of the Gortmore site was obtained by North Tipperary County Council on 17 September 2007. Since then, the project team has been engaged in preparing a shortlist of suitable contractors to undertake construction work on the site. Tender documents are almost completed and the Department expects that tenders will be invited from this shortlist in the near future. Rehabilitation work on the Gortmore site will commence once this tendering process is complete.