Mr. Brian Lucas:

All these requirements under the Planning and Development Act and integrated pollution control licensing stem from EU law. The key requirement is whether a site loses its exempt development status. It would lose that status if an EIA was required so one would have to do a screening for an AA. Depending on the results, if that screening showed that a full EIA was required, the exempt development status would be lost and that would move it into a requirement for planning permission. In addition, peat extraction involving a new or extended area of 30 ha or more requires an EIA and, therefore, planning permission. If the site is 30 ha or more, that automatically requires an EIA and, therefore, it automatically requires planning permission. Peat extraction of an area greater than 50 ha requires both planning consent from a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála and integrated pollution control licensing from the Environmental Protection Agency, with reference to the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992. Both of those regimes require EIAs to be carried out by their respective competent authority, which is the planning authority or the EPA, as well as an AA, if relevant. An AA or an EIA may not be required if the site is under 30 ha but the best thing to do would be to carry out the EIA screening and an AA screening as well.