Kildare County Council responds to EPA report into illegal peat extraction

Kildare County Council has responded to a report published recently by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into illegal peat extraction in Kildare.

As reported in Kildare Now recently, the EPA has called on the local authority to clamp down on illegal peat harvesters in the county, which are contributing to an export trade of 300,000 tonnes of peat annually, valued at almost €40 million. 

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The EPA recently published its report on Large Scale illegal Peat Extraction in Ireland, which investigated 38 sites across seven counties – Kildare, Offaly, Tipperary, Westmeath, Roscommon, Longford and Sligo.

The report found that large-scale commercial peat extraction is being carried out in these counties without any of the necessary authorisations from the local authorities.

The Leinster Leader contacted Kildare County Council for a response to the EPA report.

The response stated: “Kildare County Council takes its planning enforcement and environmental protection duties very seriously and has a successful track record of pursuing enforcement action in numerous complex planning and environmental cases where clear evidence of unauthorised development and environmental damage has been established. 

“The enforcement of planning legislation, particularly in relation to peat extraction activities, however, operates within an increasingly complex legal framework. Recent High Court and Court of Appeal judgments have highlighted the evolving nature of environmental law in this area, creating legal uncertainties for local authorities considering enforcement action.

“This brings with it significant risk for local authorities both legally and financially and each and every enforcement action must be evaluated on its own merits with consideration made to the available evidence and the prospects of success through the courts. This analysis is undertaken on all planning enforcement and environment cases through each stage of the process.”

“Planning and environment enforcement cases require the commitment of significant Council resources over an extended period, including specialist staff time, legal representation, technical expertise, comprehensive site investigations and surveys, and ongoing legal expenses.

“The lengthy nature of complex enforcement files means that, in some instances, council resources are committed to individual cases for many years on some occasions but in spite of this complexity, Kildare County Council continues to heavily resource its Planning Enforcement and Environmental functions to ensure that the relevant planning and environmental legislation is enforced across the county, where possible.”

With respect to the issue of peatlands specifically, the council said it remains “committed to working with the IPA and all other relevant local authorities” to address the issue.