James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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127. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when the statutory instrument dealing with the large scale extraction of peat will be finalised and published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22506/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is currently progressing draft Regulations under the European Communities Act 1972 that will establish a new regulatory regime in respect of large-scale peat extraction. Under the new regime, the Environmental Protection Agency will be required to carry out an environmental impact assessment as part of its examination of licence applications for existing and new peat extraction of 30 hectares or more.

Interested parties and stakeholders were consulted on the draft Regulations in October 2016. A detailed review of the draft Regulations is ongoing in the light of the comments received, with a view to finalising the Regulations by the end of June.