Investment in “green infrastructure” must be maintained if Ireland is to be prepared for the return to economic growth, the Environmental Protection Agency has said.
In her forward to the agency's annual report for 2010, published yesterday, Mary Kelly, who was director general for 2010 but has left the organisation, said that while Ireland was making progress on its environmental targets, much of this was the result of lower industrial output. "Although reduced economic activity has resulted in reductions in emissions to the environment . . . less money inevitably means less investment in the infrastructure, people and expertise needed to protect our environment," she said.