There has been unauthorised peat extraction in as many as 44 bogland sites across seven counties, but only one local authority has commenced enforcement action, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has told an Oireachtas committee. An EPA delegation attended a meeting of the all-party Oireachtas committee on agriculture this week to outline the scale of illegal extraction activity and to defend enforcement actions against unauthorised operations. During the meeting, there were strident questions from committee members, with several TDs and Senators – Paul Daly, Joe Flaherty and Danny Healy-Rae – claiming that the agency, through its actions, was contributing to closing down family businesses. EPA deputy director Tom Ryan said the agency has shared all its intelligence, including specific location co-ordinates and aerial photography, with the local authorities for their consideration in enforcement activities.Peat extraction, including related drainage of peatland on new or extended areas of greater than 10 hectares, requires planning permission. In the case of an area exceeding 50 hectares, an application for planning must be made to the relevant planning authority in advance of making an application to the EPA for a licence.The local authorities concerned are counties Offaly, Kildare, Tipperary, Westmeath, Roscommon, Longford and Sligo.Ryan said that only one of the local authorities responded positively by putting in place a well-reasoned county-wide enforcement plan and has commenced some enforcement actions, and that was Longford County Council.Ryan said that the EPA had carried out 226 enforcement inspections of peat activities between 2021 and 2026.According to the Central Statistics Office, an estimated 370,000 tonnes of peat were exported from the Republic in 2025, valued at almost €40 million. The State imported just under 30,000 tonnes of peat in 2025. Of the exports, 43 per cent went to Northern Ireland, 28 per cent to Britain, 26 per cent to the Netherlands, 6 per cent to Israel, and 5 per cent to South Africa. “This data confirms that these damaging and illegal operations are taking place for very significant monetary gain at the expense of the Irish environment,” said Ryan in his opening statement. “In the absence of regulation, operators are destroying the environment for profit and then abandoning these damaged landscapes, leaving artificial lakes and exposed marl behind. These activities are destroying our precious natural environments and this needs to stop.”In a sometimes heated atmosphere, members of the committee claimed that the export figures were exaggerated. Several referred to an earlier appearance from members of the industry group, Growing Media Ireland, which noted that the exported peat contained between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of other materials, including bark. Roscommon TD Michael Fitzmaurice said that some of the peatlands had not had peat extraction for some years. Asked by Mayo TD Paul Lawless if any non-governmental organisation was a source for its intelligence, Ryan said that it had received information from Friends of the Irish Environment, but that it came on a voluntary basis.“I think you are coming down on one side in relation to this debate,” said Lawless, who represents Aontú. Ryan said that the EPA was implementing the environmental laws that had been agreed by the Oireachtas. He agreed with Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny that there would remain a need for some peat extraction for horticulture. Because of its nature and water absorption properties, peat is seen as an essential element of mushroom growing in particular. Ryan said the EPA did not want to close down any industry or for people to lose their jobs, but added there was wide-scale illegal peat harvesting.Some members of the committee said that some operators who had applied for permits could not get authorisation because of delays.