Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 527: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the guidelines set out by his Department in relation to the import of coal to Ireland; the procedure an applicant should follow to obtain the necessary permission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10389/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I have no function in relation to the import of coal and my Department has not issued guidelines in the matter. In April 2006, my Department and the Solid Fuel Trade Group signed a new negotiated agreement on further reducing the sulphur content of bituminous coal and petcoke, and the maintenance of existing limitations on the marketing, sale and distribution of solid fuels in designated smokeless zones.

The voluntary Agreement provides for the delivery of reduction targets for the sulphur limit of petcoke and bituminous coal, on a phased basis. As part of the Agreement the Solid Fuel Trade Group pledged to strive to maintain the extremely low average sulphur content of bituminous coal and to apply their best efforts to keep the average sulphur content below 0.55%. The Agreement also provided that by 1 August 2007 all imports of petcoke would comply with a maximum sulphur content of 2%. The full text of the Agreement can be accessed at www.environ.ie. A review of the 2006 — 2008 agreement will take place shortly with a view to putting in place a further agreement for the following 3-year period.