The chief executives of Ireland\u2019s local authorities must be hauled into a meeting by the Minister for the Environment and read the riot act for failing to clamp down on illegal commercial peat extractors, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on climate and environment, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cA report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has laid bare the extent of large-scale peat extraction not operating within planning or environmental laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncredibly, this blatant illegal activity \u2013 uncovered at 38 sites across seven counties \u2013 is happening under the noses of local authorities, which have the powers to act but are failing to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp to 300,000 tonnes of peat is being extracted from these sites every year, with an export value of around \u20ac40 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the EPA, this activity is causing catastrophic damage to local environments; decimating vital ecosystems for biodiversity, culture, and research; and ruining the country\u2019s natural carbon sinks, which absorb greenhouse gasses \u2013 crucial for our climate action ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of these operators have attempted to circumvent EPA enforcement by reducing their footprint below 50 hectares, which brings them within the remit of their local authority. However, the EPA has described enforcement levels by councils as \u2018patently inadequate\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not talking about traditional bog owners here \u2013 this is a large-scale illegal industry operating in plain sight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot allow a situation to continue where people are profiteering from the destruction of the environment. If we are to successfully deal with our biodiversity crisis and take effective climate action, our peatlands will have to be at the heart of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EPA report is a wake-up call for the government. The Minister for the Environment must now bring the chief executives of local authorities before him to remind them of their enforcement responsibilities in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 26, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The chief executives of Ireland\u2019s local authorities must be hauled into a meeting by the Minister for the Environment and read the riot act for failing to clamp down on illegal commercial peat extractors, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on climate and environment, said: \u201cA report […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[517,405,727,268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biodiversity","category-climate","category-environment","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n