Raw material review ‘years behind schedule’ because of geologist shortage

The Government’s Climate Action Plan commits to undertaking “high level assessments of Irish geology” to identify what critical raw materials are potentially hosted in Ireland.

However, this has not happened because of a lack of geologists at the State’s geology unit to complete the work.

The survey is part of a goal of the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which called on member states to have drawn up a national programme for raw material exploration by May this year.

The EU’s demand for critical raw materials such as lithium, copper and cobalt is set to “increase exponentially”, the Department of Climate said, as it transitions to clean energy systems which require increased production of batteries, solar panels, permanent magnets and other green technologies.

The bloc has identified its heavy reliance on imports of raw materials as a cause of growing concern, especially in the context of recent crises which have underlined its strategic dependencies.

It believes that timely action is required to ensure the resilience and competitiveness of the EU, as well as to meet climate objectives.

The CRMA, which has come into effect in Ireland, asked member states to enact processes to help enable projects around 34 critical raw materials – including identifying which are present in the State.

A technical report on the matter was originally due to be published at the end of last year, but “continued lack of staff resources” is resulting in further delays.

The work was due to be done by Geological Survey Ireland, a division of the Department of Climate.

It would have involved a desk study and data analysis to “direct the national exploration programme and assess specific criticality factors for Ireland”.

It is now hoped that work will begin in early 2026 with the appointment of an entry level geologist.

A report published on Thursday said that a competition for the appointment of a senior geologist in 2026 would allow “adequate staffing” to complete the study and reporting during 2027.

The Department said it is looking at all options to complete the objective, including “potential procurement of services if required”.

The geological report is one of 66 climate objectives that remained overdue for completion by the end of the first quarter of this year, as per the progress report published this week.

A progress report for Q2 has yet to be published.

In publishing the Q1 review, Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien said: “There are positives – this is the third year in a row of falling emissions, and they’re now at their lowest level in over three decades.

“But the message for me is clear: we need more action, delivered faster. That’s where my focus lies.

“We have already established a new Programme Board, which will serve as an high-level inter-Departmental mechanism to unblock delays and accelerate delivery.”