Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The Bill before the House is a consolidation and modernisation of Ireland's exploration and mining legislation. It has already been acknowledged that it is the culmination of in and around five years of preparatory work. I am keen to acknowledge the work of the staff of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, the Minister, Deputy White, and, in particular, the former Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, in bringing about this much-needed updating of legislation in this important area.

The main purpose of the Bill has been spelt out by the Minister of State already. I am not going to repeat it. He has already emphasised the fact that this legislation does not apply to petroleum or natural gas and does not cover the process known as fracking.

Not many people know that Ireland has a mining heritage spanning over 4,000 years. Since the 1960s Ireland has had the status of a world-ranked producer of zinc, lead and barite. This was news to me and I thank the library and research facility for the briefing on the matter. Ireland was Europe's largest producer of zinc and zinc concentrate, and the tenth largest producer in the world in 2013. The mineral sector has made an important contribution to the national economy and it is a vital contributor to the regional economy in the vicinity of operating mines. The sector employs 3,306 full-time equivalents. These people are employed almost exclusively outside Dublin, which is an important factor in regional development. I note that in Part 2, the Minister can take into account economic benefits to a region as well as environmental impacts in examining an application.

Ireland is well located geographically in spite of its small size as a landmass. It is deemed to be an attractive destination for mineral exploration. This is, in part, because Ireland has been rated as a top jurisdiction because of its well-regulated sector according to the Fraser Institute 2014 report cards. Mining also has low import content and this is important when looking at its contribution to the economy. Overall value from the sector amounts to something in the region of €810 million, almost double the direct production value. Output in mining, as measured by sales turnover, amounted to some €426 million in 2012 and exploration and mining companies contributed a total of €56 million in tax and other payments to the Exchequer and local authorities. This is an important factor as well.

It is clearly an important sector to the economy and it has the potential to grow and expand. As my colleague, Senator Noone, said, the sector is governed by a number of tranches of legislation spanning 1940 to 1999. Clearly it is in need of modernisation and updating; the statutory framework needs to be fit for purpose. We have seen how this Government has taken a number of areas and produced good quality consolidating legislation.

The Bill has over 250 sections and it is probably one of the largest tranches of legislation that we are going to consider this year. Its purpose is to make better provision for prospecting and development, and the management and control of the mining resources in this State. It is important that we have a legislative framework that is fit for purpose. We must also consider that, apart from the comprehensive legislative framework to cover exploration and mining development, we must regulate for mine closure and rehabilitation. Historically, it was the norm to simply close sites with little or no work carried out to rehabilitate the site or return it to full use. Abandoned sites have posed safety risks to humans and animals. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Geological Survey of Ireland identified 27 abandoned sites in 2009 and remediation work has been carried out on a number of these sites under the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006. The powers under the 2006 Act, however, were only of a temporary nature and the legislation before the House contains the powers in respect of abandoned sites. It represents an important environmental provision. As the Minister of State has noted, under Part 9 current mining operators have full responsibility for their operations and the Minister has powers to go to the courts to seek compensatory payments where the State is obliged to carry out rehabilitation work.

This Government has shown its commitment to taking all the necessary steps to increase Ireland's international attractiveness overall. This Bill is a significant further step in that outward-looking policy. The Government has shown its commitment to this sector in a number of ways, including by funding the Geological Survey of Ireland geophysical and geochemical survey of the country under the Tellus programme. The Tellus programme is a ground and airborne mapping programme run by the Geological Survey of Ireland and has collected a significant amount of geo-scientific data that is informing the assessment of Ireland's natural resources. Tellus has completed mapping of 25% of the island using state-of-the-art geochemical and geophysical surveying techniques and the programme began its most recent phase this summer in the midlands and the east.

I welcome this legislation. It is worth noting the Government's continued support for the minerals industry but also its determination not to allow miscellaneous legislation that has grown over significant periods to linger on the Statute Book when consolidating legislation is needed for a number of areas where regulation is critical.