Environment
The EPA said there has been “significant peat extraction” without planning permission, with no enforcement from local authorities.
Agri-Business
Growing Media Ireland (GMI) warned that 18,000 horticulture jobs may be at risk unless the government takes action on horticultural peat.
Agri Politics
The challenges facing horticultural peat in Ireland from environmental to regulatory will come under fresh political scrutiny this week.
The European Commission’s decision to refer Ireland to an EU court because of peat cutting projects is a "necessary and overdue step, the IPCC said.
An Independent Ireland TD has hit out at the European Commission for referring Ireland to an EU court because of peat cutting "projects".
TD Carol Nolan has criticised Minister Darragh O’Brien for what she calls his “failure to answer" her question on government policy on peat.
Minister Martin Heydon said Ireland's transition from peat "will take time" and that Ireland has made progress in developing alternatives.
Minister Christopher O'Sullivan made some clarifications on a number of initiatives, including the Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme.
An independent TD has said it is "economic madness" to import peat while at the same time criminalising its commercial sale in Ireland.
Rural Life
A TD has called for the ban on the commercial sale of turf to be reversed due to the current pressure on affordability for home heating fuel.
"Swift action" is needed to stop large-scale illegal peat extraction, the Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) has said.
The EPA should be made the responsible body for all enforcement activities relating to illegal peat extraction, a new report has said.
As horticulture moves away from peat as a growing medium, Tiernaneill Mushrooms has carried out an industrial scale peat replacement project
An Taisce is calling on Minister for Heritage James Browne to provide a plan of action to combat the issue of illegal peat extraction.
Local authority chiefs under fire from at TD for failing to clamp down on illegal commercial peat extractors.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its report on 'Large-Scale illegal Peat Extraction in Ireland'
A new report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) includes a list of sites with the 'poorest compliance' record in 2024.
Researchers have created a new way of finding peat soil, giving insight into where carbon is stored in the ground.
The INHFA said that it is concerned that commitments given on the Nature Restoration Law may be undermined via a carbon tax on peat soils.
EPA has found a "high level of consistency across Ireland in terms of climate change attitudes, policy preferences, and behaviours".
More than €500,000 will have been paid to farmers who participated in the FarmPEAT results-based agri-environmental programme
The EPA has requested that each local authority prepares site-specific enforcement plans to investigate all illegal peat activities
A number of large peat extraction operations around the country are being investigated for possible illegal activities by the EPA
