New regulations won't bring an end to turf burning in Westmeath, says Smyth

New solid fuel regulations will target the large-scale commercial sale of smoky fuels in urban areas while allowing for the continued burning of turf in rural areas, Cllr Hazel Smyth of the Green Party has said.

According to Cllr Smyth, under the draft regulations households in small rural communities (typically under 500 people) and one-off houses across Westmeath will still be allowed to burn turf. Those who gift or sell small amounts to family and neighbours will not be penalised.

Cllr Smyth said that there had been a lot of disinformation and misinformation about the regulations over the past weeks which had unfortunately caused undue stress to some people. She added that while it is acknowledged that we need to phase out the use of turf, over time, for climate, biodiversity and other reasons, this is not the primary focus of the draft regulations. Public health and safe air quality is. The EU Environment agency estimates that 1,300 people a year die from fine particle air pollution in Ireland, which is predominantly from solid fuel combustion.

However, phasing out the use of turf would only be done in parallel with targeted retrofitting and social welfare supports for people most impacted by the regulations and those at greatest risk of fuel poverty.

“While many people have an understandable attachment to turf, it is undeniably a dirty and inefficient way of heating a home which also leaves large amounts of ashes. The time has come to support people to move to cleaner and more efficient forms of heating,” Cllr. Hazel Smyth stated.

“These draft regulations strike a fair balance between the pressing need to reduce the 1,300 deaths caused every year by air pollution while respecting the traditional reliance on turf in rural areas in counties like Westmeath and tackling fuel poverty. We want to work with community and voluntary organisations across the county to reach out to people reliant on turf, to help them switch fuels and get support to retrofit their homes and upgrade their heating systems. There is a concern also that the return to large scale commercial extraction of bogs will lead to the rapid eradication of our precious peatlands also, which would be most unwelcome for rural Ireland”.

She outlined that the government has significantly increased the amount of money it is investing in retrofitting, with €352 million being invested this year. Over half this amount is going towards dedicated energy poverty schemes and local authority retrofits, including Westmeath. In addition, 80% grants are available for attic insulation and cavity wall insulation that can be carried out in a few hours and provide major improvements in terms of heat retention and reducing people’s bills.

The Solid Fuel Regulations are still in draft form. They have not been approved by Government. However, Cllr. Hazel Smyth confirmed that there would be ongoing consultation with government partners over the week and that this would inform the final approach before the regulations come to government in the coming months.

"The Programme for Government commits to extending the ban on bituminous coal to new towns and over the term of the Government, moving towards a full nationwide ban. The introduction of the “smoky coal ban” stretches back to 1990. The original focus of these regulations was smoky coal, not turf. Previous governments tried and failed to introduce a smoky coal ban. A ban on the sale of turf became unavoidable when a number of coal companies from outside the State threatened legal action if the government banned smoky coal, without also addressing other fuels such as peat and wood," she said.