Ireland has three months to sort industrial peat extraction

The European Commission has announced that it has issued as Reasoned Opinion against Ireland for failing to assess the impact of industrial peat extraction on the environment.

Industrial peat production has been carried out in Westmeath, Offaly and in other midlands counties.

The legal move was welcomed by Friends of the Irish Environment which had lodged renewed complaints with the Commission last year over continuing extraction by both private contractors and Bord na Mona

A Reasoned Opinion is the final step before a case is brought to the European Court of Justice. It comes after Ireland failed to answer claims made in letter of Formal Notice dated 25 July, 2019. Ireland had two months to reply.

A previous ruling by the European Court of Justice against Ireland in 1999 led to changes in the legislation intended to answer the Court’s finding and ensure Environmental Impact Assessments were undertaken for peat extraction and forestry in particular.

A statement from the Commission today said that "Whilst the legislation was amended and the case closed, the Commission subsequently received complaints that it was still not being applied to peat extraction activities in practice."

Ireland has three months to bring itself into compliance or the ‘Commission may decide to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU.’

"Ireland’s reputation in Europe as the ‘reluctant jurisdiction’ remains well merited," said a spokesperson for Friends of the Irish Environment.

"Taxpayers paid a €5 million fine in February 2020 and continue to pay €15,000 a day for a case arising from the Derrybrien landslide in Galway that was determined in 2008. That additional bill stands at €3 million as of today and rises every day. It is cheaper to obey the law."