Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 1486: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has envisaged the setting of regulations limiting the scale of quarrying in any given area. [1774/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In tandem with the commencement of section 261 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in April 2004, which introduced a new registration system for quarries, my Department issued guidelines on quarries and ancillary activities to planning authorities. The guidelines, which were issued under section 28 of the Act, offer guidance to planning authorities on planning for the quarrying industry through the development plan and determining applications for planning permission for quarrying and ancillary activities. These guidelines also advise on appropriate conditions for attaching to planning permissions, to mitigate the environmental impacts of quarries.

The decision as to whether to grant a planning permission in any particular case is of course a matter for the planning authority and my Department has no role in the matter. In making a decision on a planning application, a planning authority must consider the proper planning and sustainable development of the area, having regard to the provisions of the development plan, any submissions or observations received, relevant ministerial or Government policies, including any guidelines issued by the Department and any submissions received.

I have no plans to issue further regulations in this matter.