Offaly council calls for national response to large-scale illegal peat extraction

Offaly County Council has called for a coordinated national response to the prosecution of large-scale illegal peat extraction.

The council's comes in week in which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that illegally-operating peat extraction firms are “gouging out” Ireland’s natural peatlands in Offaly and six other counties

The council said it is committed to environmental protection in the county and recognises the importance of appropriate regulation in this sector.

Offaly County Council takes its statutory planning enforcement role seriously and to fulfilling that role in a way that is legally sound, with adequate resources.

The council said it wished to highlight that “the scale and complexity of the illegal activities outlined in the EPA’s report often surpass the operational and legal capacities of individual local authorities”.

“Large-scale peat extraction cases typically involve multiple landowners, overlapping legal jurisdictions, technical environmental assessments, and protracted legal proceedings — all of which demand specialist expertise, significant financial resources, and risk management capabilities that are beyond what many local authorities can sustain independently.

“The council is of the view that a coordinated national response to investigate, manage, and, where necessary, prosecute these complex cases would be the most appropriate action. Such an approach would ensure consistency in enforcement, reduce duplication of effort, and enable better use of technical and legal resources.

The council said it remained committed to environmental protection within County Offaly and to fulfilling its statutory responsibilities in a manner that is legally sound and properly resourced.

It said it was willing to collaborate with the EPA and other local authorities to work towards resolving this issue in a coordinated and effective manner.