Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 30, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:"(3) The Minister shall review all prospecting licences and retention licences every five years.".

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Táimid ag cur leasú chun cinn a thabharfadh cead don Aire athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar na ceadúnais atá ann faoi láthair nó ceadúnais idirghabhálach gach cúig bliana, agus, sa chás go bhfuil duine a bhfuil ceadúnas acu ag cur isteach ar fhorbairt san eacnamaíocht áitiúil, go bhféadfadh an tAire an ceadúnas a tharraingt siar agus a oscailt suas do bhabhta eile tairisceana.

This amendment relates to a case I dealt with in Connemara. On Second Stage we discussed the long and drawn-out history around many of the minerals licences in the State, some of which date back to landlords who were not resident on the island of Ireland. The particular case I was dealing with related to a person who had a minerals licence in respect of another person's land and that person, on his own land, wanted to develop a quarry but was precluded from doing so because another person held the mineral rights. The person who held the mineral rights had no intention of opening the quarry or doing any work on the other person's land and need never get permission to that because he was not the owner of the land.

I understand that under the previous legislation there was an option to revoke a licence that was not active. Perhaps the Minister of State would outline how he envisages the new Bill working. Certainly, when I raised this issue with previous Ministers they were slow to act and did not want to intervene, even though the licence was not being used. The licence which dated back to 1972 was not being used but it prevented somebody else who had a bona fide business, a market, and wanted to sell their product from opening a quarry on their own land, due to somebody else having the licence.

Because of the way we have seen some of these licences going, we suggest that the Minister should review all prospecting licences and retention licences every five years. It is not appropriate that landlords who may live in Britain or elsewhere should hold the rights to the minerals of the State if they are not making bona fide use of that licence for the good of the State or for the good of local communities, or creating businesses or jobs. I understand there are around 600 licences out there, including prospecting licences. It would be interesting to find out how many are inactive and what the Minister intends to do about them. Will he revoke them? Will he take ownership back into the hands of the State and the Department as that would appear to be a logical thing to do? Fágfaidh mé leis an Aire Stáit é, go bhfeicfidh mé cén freagra atá aige féin.