I thank the Member who secured the debate for doing so. Like Mr Elliott, I represent Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The area covered by the prospecting licence of Omagh Minerals Ltd extends to Lack in County Fermanagh. As has been said, that area is beautiful and scenic and is full of natural assets that provide local people with the potential to develop tourism initiatives. One concern is that that potential is being jeopardised by the activities that are being carried out.

Furthermore, as has been said, there are concerns about planning issues. As I understand it, even though all the conditions around the planning application had not been fully determined when Omagh Minerals Ltd began work, it has been carrying out its work undeterred. That simply adds to the general concerns about despoiling the countryside. I also understand that the Planning Service’s enforcement branch has not issued an enforcement notice to the company, despite the fact that work has commenced. That is quite a serious concern, and people are also asking the Northern Ireland Environment Agency what it is doing about it. We are all aware that there has been correspondence between the developers and the Planning Service and that they have had meetings, but people want those outstanding concerns to be addressed. We hope that the Minister can go some way towards doing so this afternoon.

There is a wider concern about inconsistency in the enforcement of planning decisions. For example, I know of industries providing employment that have been served with enforcement notices because of some of their activities. In one case, a business was extending its work premises. Another example is of a farmer who built a slurry tank under the terms of a Department of Agriculture and Rural Development scheme and received an enforcement notice from the Planning Service before the cement had dried. That does not sit well against the fact that there is a lack of enforcement notices for companies that are engaged in the activities under discussion this afternoon. I agree entirely that there is great concern about the issue, and I support the comments made today.