The Seán Quinn Group, which plans to operate a 12-acre quarry near Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, has been directed by An Bord Pleanála to submit an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the project.
The board ruled that, as the proposed quarry was likely to have "significant effects on the environment", it should be the subject of an EIS. The developers were given three months to submit the statement.
The decision follows an appeal by An Taisce, supported by Friends of the Earth in Northern Ireland, arguing that an EIS was required because of the extensive nature and scale of the proposed quarry.
According to An Taisce, the board's decision "raises concerns at the adequacy of Cavan County Council's determination of this and other planning applications which come under the EU's EIS directive".
Its heritage officer, Mr Ian Lumley, said the lodging of an EIS on the Seán Quinn Group's latest proposal would allow the wider issues of quarrying sources for its cement factory to be addressed.
"The wider issues posed by this development include the failure of the original EIS for the Ballyconnell cement factory in the 1980s to identify the long-term stone quarry supply source to maintain production," he said.
Mr Lumley said the case also highlighted the "wide-scale failure" of successive governments, both through legislation and regulations, to implement the EU directive on environmental impact assessment.
