EU takes Ireland to court over alleged failure to enforce peat-cutting rules

A long-running dispute over peat extraction in Ireland has reached a new flashpoint, with the European Commission hauling the State before Europe’s highest court over what it says is a failure to properly police the industry.

After years of tensions between Dublin and Brussels, the EU executive said today it is referring Ireland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), arguing the State has not met its obligations under EU rules governing environmental impact assessments.

In a statement, the Commission said Ireland had breached the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

According to Brussels, there remains “significant peat cutting activity” that has gone ahead without planning permission or environmental impact assessments, with particular concern around sites smaller than 50 hectares.

The roots of the dispute stretch back decades, to the first environmental impact assessment rules introduced in 1985.

Ireland was brought before the ECJ in the late 1990s over the flawed transposition of the directive and was the subject of a court judgment in 1999.

Although Ireland later amended its laws in response to that ruling, the Commission said meaningful enforcement did not follow.

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That prompted Brussels to move a second time, issuing a letter of formal notice in July 2019, followed by a reasoned opinion in July 2020.

In today’s statement, the Commission said: “At that time, there were significant peat cutting activities ongoing that had not been subject to planning permissions or environmental impact assessments.

“Since July 2020, Ireland has taken significant action to halt peat cutting by the state-owned operator Bord Na Móna.

“Rehabilitation action on the sites owned by Bord Na Móna, where industrial cutting had taken place earlier without an environmental impact assessment, is now underway, largely funded by the EU through its Recovery and Resilience Facility.”

The Commission added that, since July 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency has pursued enforcement action against operators on privately owned commercial bogs larger than 50 hectares, with some commercial peat companies subsequently halting operations.

In response, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said it had noted the Commission’s announcement.

The department said commercial peat extraction is already a regulated activity, adding that “enforcement against activity at smaller sites, at a local level as refenced by the Commission, is a matter for planning authorities and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage”.

It also said information on EPA enforcement measures involving unauthorised extraction at the biggest sites can be found on the agency’s website.

The department further set out the permissions required depending on the scale of peat extraction:

Fewer than 30 hectares: Planning permission from the relevant local authority is required, and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) may also be needed. An Appropriate Assessment (AA) is required as well where peat extraction could significantly affect a protected area.
30 to 50 hectares: Planning permission from the relevant local authority is required, along with an EIA. An AA is also required where peat extraction could significantly affect a protected area.
Greater than 50 hectares: An Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licence from the EPA is required, together with planning permission from the relevant local authority and an EIA. An AA is also required where peat extraction could significantly affect a protected area.