Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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346. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the maximum depth allowable for excavation of a quarry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15983/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department issued Guidelines to Planning Authorities on Quarrying and Ancillary Activities in April 2004, offering guidance on planning for the quarrying industry, both in the adoption of development plans and in determining individual applications for planning permission for quarrying and ancillary activities.  The Guidelines recommend that applications for planning permission for quarries should be accompanied by, amongst other things, information on the proposed maximum extent and depth of excavation and extraction.

Under the guidelines, there is no maximum depth suggested in relation to the excavation of quarries. Decisions on whether to grant planning permission for a quarry is a matter for the relevant planning authority or An Bord Pleanála, as the case may be, having regard to the particular local circumstances of the proposed development and potential impacts on the local environment, landscape, water sources, nature etc.  When granting planning permission for a quarry, it is open to the local planning authority or An Bord Pleanala to attach appropriate conditions to such permissions on a case by case basis. Such conditions may relate to the implementation of environmental mitigation measures; times of operation; control of noise, blasting, dust, water pollution and waste; environmental monitoring; special contributions; extraction limits and site restoration.  

In this connection, it should be noted that a person is not entitled solely by reasons of a planning permission to carry out development and that other specific requirements relating to the quarrying sector may apply, such as under the Health and Safety code - e.g. Guidance from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008 (S.I. No. 28 of 2008) - which falls under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.