Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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278. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if the changes to the planning status of large scale peat extraction will be designed to ensure that there is no effective retrospective legalisation of extraction undertaken without environmental impact assessment. [24059/17]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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281. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if changes to the planning status of large scale peat extraction will be designed to ensure that the carbon sequestration and storage functions of peatlands, important to achieving the goal of carbon neutrality for the land sector, will be promoted in a cost effective manner. [24149/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 278 and 281 together.

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 applications for licences to commence peat extraction of 30 hectares or more from the date that the Regulations come into effect or to continue such peat extractions from a date to be determined, in accordance with the Regulations.

As indicated by my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment in reply to Question No. 277 of 18 May 2017, the fact that the consent regime for large-scale peat extraction is changing should not inherently give rise to direct implications for changes affecting the sequestration potential or the storage function of peatlands.