Press Release: 500 organisations sign open letter to Jean-Claude Juncker urging him to protect our soil

500 organisations sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker today urging him to enact legislation to protect our soils from further degradation. The letter was sent to coincide with this Saturday’s celebration of Earth Day, an international day of action to highlight the work of environmental movements worldwide. […]

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Catastrophic winter flooding will increase with climate change unless we substantially change the way we use land

The Environmental Pillar is calling on the government to bring in substantive land use changes to protect communities from increasingly frequent high rainfall events.

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Response to draft EPA regulation, compliance and enforcement documents

The Environmental Pillar welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Draft Better Regulation and Draft Compliance and Enforcement Documents. Click the button below to see the response document. [gap size="1.313em"][button shape="rounded" size="regular" float="none" info="popover" info_place="top" info_trigger="hover" href="https://environmentalpillar.ie/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Environmental-Pillar-Response-to-the-EPA-Draft-Compliance-and-Enforcement-Policy.pdf" title="Click to see the full Environmental Pillar response"]Response document[/button] Read more »

Report from the 7th Meeting of the European Advisory Committees on Biosafety in the field of contained use and deliberate release of GMOs, Amsterdam 16th-17th October 2014

Sadhbh O’Neill In attendance as member of EPA advisory committee on GMOs, representing the Environmental Pillar. This symposium is an event to facilitate dialogue between the scientific experts across the EU and EEA on current trends in regulating the contained use and deliberate release of GMOs. This document is merely intended to be a personal […]

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Departments of Transport and Agriculture need to face up to climate change and play their part in cutting Ireland's emissions.

The Environmental Pillar are calling on Ministers Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney to stop burying their heads in the sand over Ireland’s climate change commitments.  While the government has cut emissions in some areas the EPA figures released today show that the Agriculture and Transport sectors alone have set Ireland on course to miss our […]

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EPA should ask "Is Fracking Really a Good Idea for Ireland?"

8 March 2013 Fracking could accelerate climate change, destroy communities and landscapes, and prevent creation of sustainable employment and that is before we look at the impacts of the technology itself. “No good doctor would try to minimise the symptoms of a disease, without looking at the overall health of a patient,” said Charles Stanley-Smith […]

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Submission on EPA Fracking Research

This research should not just be aimed at answering the question: can we undertake Fracking in Ireland without causing environmental damage here, and without increasing Ireland’s Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. The research should also address the question of the environmental impact of the extraction of global shale gas reserves for the agreed target of […]

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Submission on the Draft EPA Strategic Plan 2013 – 2015

The Environmental Pillar welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Draft EPA Strategic Plan 2013-2015. Recognising that this is an outline plan, and that the devil may well be in the detail of implementation, the members of the Environmental Pillar make the recommendations below in the context of the Pillar’s fundamental position that: The continuing […]

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Submission to the EPA Review Panel

The following submission is made on behalf of The Environmental Pillar in response to the ‘Invitation to Comment’ advertised as part of the consultation activity for a review of Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency, EPA; as issued by the Department of The Environment, Heritage and Local Government, DOEHLG. It is the understanding of the Pillar that […]

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