Westmeath County Council Chief Executive, Barry Kehoe, Senior Planner, Cathaldus Hartin, Anna-Marie Delaney, Chief Executive of Offaly County Council and Andrew Murray, Director of Services with Offaly County Council. Regional authority sought to tackle illegal commercial peat extractionPrevious Next Image 1 of 2 Westmeath County Council Chief Executive, Barry Kehoe, Senior Planner, Cathaldus Hartin, Anna-Marie Delaney, Chief Executive of Offaly County Council and Andrew Murray, Director of Services with Offaly County Council. The Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy met on Wednesday December 3, for a hearing with stakeholders on engagement on illegal peat extraction. Committee cathaoirleach Naoise Ó Muirí said: "The Committee is very aware that illegal extraction of peat in Ireland is a significant environmental concern and that many areas have been damaged by unauthorised peat extraction activities." In an earlier submission, The Environmental Protection Agency identified 38 large-scale unauthorised peat extraction sites across seven local authority areas.

Source: Irish Independent December 19, 2025 23:26 UTC