Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a very good point. In my previous job, we resourced the local authorities significantly. Additional resources will always be required. We fund local authorities through the local authority climate action plans as well.

Planning enforcement is a matter for each of the local authorities. As I said earlier, I am engaging with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on it because we do not want to see these types of breaches in peat extraction. They are devastating for biodiversity in those areas and do untold damage. We provide significant funding through the climate action regional offices, CAROs and the local authorities. This is not me passing the buck because I will be working with the Minister, Deputy Browne on this, but the planning enforcement element needs to be focused on in those particular local authorities. I was taken by the commentary the EPA gave in its report that it perceived a lack of urgency among some local authorities in dealing with it, or a lack of prioritisation.