The number of landslides in Ireland has been "grossly underestimated" according to the findings of a new report from the Geological Survey of Ireland (GIS).
The report was drawn up by a working group set up after two widely publicised landslides in 2003 near Pollatomish, Co Mayo, and Derrybrien, Co Galway, demonstrated the extent of property damage that be caused.
The authors say there are potentially thousands of unrecorded landslides and that there is an "urgent need to document these events as the first step in delineating landslide-prone areas".
The report also notes that as the population increases, new housing construction and infrastructure "will inevitably encroach into potentially hazardous areas".
Noting that the Mayo landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall and the landslide at Derrybrien occurred close to construction work for a windfarm, the authors said planners must "act now to curb the cost of future landslide hazards through better understanding and mapping of these hazards and by improving our capability to mitigate and manage such natural disasters".
Change in climate coupled with increased building in landslide prone areas may result in landlsides happening more regularly, the GIS report says.