Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
739. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the Government is not represented at the Public Planning Inquiry in Omagh into the Curraghinalt (Dalradian) Project, the proposed gold mine in County Tyrone given the profound cross-Border implications of the matter. [30874/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn accordance with the provisions of the 1991 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (the Espoo Convention) transboundary States are required to engage in transboundary consultation, including with members of the public, in respect of projects likely to have significant effects on the environment of neighbouring States as part of the environmental impact assessment of a proposed development. For this purpose, the Transboundary State in whose territory the project is intended to be carried out is required to send to the affected State, no later than when informing its own public, a description of the project and any available information on its possible transboundary impact.
Article 132 of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001, as amended, sets out the transboundary consultation process for inbound notifications i.e. when another jurisdiction contacts this State to notify of development which may have transboundary environmental impacts in Ireland.
On 30 January 2025, I received a transboundary EIA consultation notification from the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Northern Ireland, in relation to development consent applications concerning the proposed Dalradian Gold Mine Project.
Following consultation with relevant subject matter experts in other State bodies on the potential transboundary environmental impacts of the proposed development, on 20 February 2025 I accepted the invitation to participate in transboundary EIA consultation.
As noted above, the transboundary EIA consultation process in Ireland is set out in article 132 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended. As part of this process, when a transboundary EIA consultation invitation is accepted, I, as Minister, can delegate the day-to-day administration of the consultation to a local planning authority. In this instance, Donegal County Council was the nominated authority.
The Public consultation opened on 26 February 2025, with the deadline for the receipt of written submissions or observations under this transboundary consultation process being close of business on 23 April 2025.
During this transboundary consultation, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department was notified of the transboundary EIA consultation on the proposed Dalradian Gold Mine Project development by Donegal County Council. On receipt of this notification the NPWS professional staff reviewed the documents and information available on the consultation page: consult.donegal.ie/en/consultation/transboundary-public-consultation-dalradian-gold-mine-project-co-tyrone.
A submission from the NPWS was issued on 22 April 2025 to Donegal County Council and can be found at the following link
www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/dalradian-curraghinhalt-project-transboundary-consultation-2025
Additionally, Donegal County Council made a submission on 9 May 2025 on the project, which included submissions from An Taisce, the EPA, Loughs Agency and the submission from the NPWS referenced.
My Department received an email notification from DfI on 9 March 2026, advising that the DfI arranged publication of a newspaper notice in the Belfast Gazette for 13 March, setting out the date, time and venue of the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) Public Inquiry into the proposed Dalradian Gold Mine project.
On 18 March 2026 my Department published newspaper notices in three national newspapers notifying members of the public in this jurisdiction of the date, time and venue of the PAC Public Inquiry into the proposed Dalradian Gold Mine project.
In this context, the State has fulfilled its obligations under the Espoo Convention ensuring that members of the public were notified of the proposed Dalradian Gold Mine project, informed of its potential transboundary environmental impacts, provided with an opportunity to make submissions on this project to the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland and informed of the ongoing PAC public inquiry.
