New regulations around the sale of turf and smoky coal have been welcomed by the Fine Gael Parliamentary party.
At a meeting yestereday evening, the party was told by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister of State Peter Burke the solution will see the smoky coal ban extended, but traditional turf practices can continue.
The regulations, which are set to be signed into law in the coming days, will allow people with turf cutting rights to sell that turf or to gift it to others.
A romantic image of turf harvesting in Ireland. Pic: John Hinde collection.
However, turf sales cannot be advertised and it cannot be sold in retail settings.
Environmentalists, however, claim that illegal and unregulated peat mining will continue unabated.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told a meeting of his party last night that the regulations will have no effect on the cutting or burning of turf by those with turf-cutting rights.
Machine turf cutting in the ‘protected’ Glenveagh National Park. Pic: Padraic Fogarty Irish Wildlife Trust.
The main aim of the Solid Fuel Regulations is to bring an end to the sale of smoky coal, which is the main contributor to air pollution in Ireland, he said.
Air pollution causes between 1,300 and 1,400 deaths every year.
Earlier this year, draft regulations sparked fury within Government and more than a dozen rural TDs threatened to oppose them.
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