Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)
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Question 1465: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on whether quarry owners or operators should be obliged to obtain a licence to operate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28504/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As in the case of all development which is not exempted development, quarries which commenced since the planning code came into being with the coming into effect of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act 1963 on 1 October 1964 have been required to obtain planning permission. A quarry which commenced pre-1964 but intensified operations post 1964 to the extent that there could be said to have been a material change of use will also require planning permission. Similarly, in a case where a quarry commenced pre 1964 but the use was abandoned post 1964, planning permission is required for a re-commencement of operations.

Section 261 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which was commenced in April 2004, introduced a new registration system for quarries. All quarries except those which obtained planning permission in the 5 years before the commencement of the section were required to register with the planning authority by 27 April 2005 and those quarries failing to comply become unauthorised development regardless of their previous status. Following registration a planning authority may restate, modify or add to conditions on the operation of a quarry that has received planning permission more than 5 years ago or may require certain pre 1964 quarries to seek planning permission and if necessary to submit an environmental impact statement. Under Section 261(7) of the Act, a planning authority must require a quarry which is pre-1964, is greater than 5 hectares and would be likely to have significant effects on the environment, to apply for planning permission and to submit an environmental impact statement.

A small number of quarries, principally quarries directly associated with activities which are, in their own right, subject to Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control licensing or quarries from which material with significant mineral content is extracted, are currently licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Environmental Protection Agency Acts 1992 and 2003.