Department defends new bog rules

THE Department of Environment has insisted that new EU regulations requiring planning permission and environmental impact assessments (EIA) for small plots of bog will not adversely affect domestic turf-cutting operations.

The department said they were introduced last July to comply with a European Commission finding that Ireland continued to be in breach of a directive in relation to EIAs.

Minister Dick Roche said Ireland would otherwise have been subject to a daily fine of €21,600 as long as it was in breach of directives.