The OEP Chair Dame Glenys Stacey has pressed the recently restored Northern Ireland Executive to take urgent action over the failure to meet a number of statutory deadlines.
Dame Glenys raised the OEP’s concerns in relation to missed statutory deadlines in letters written to the First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, DAERA Minister Andrew Muir and AERA Chair Tom Elliott and Deputy Chair Declan McAleer, following the welcome restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive.
The OEP Chair pointed to the failure to meet the statutory deadlines for the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) and the Nutrient Action Plan, of being of particular concern.
Dame Glenys wrote in her letter to Minister Muir: “We have also been particularly concerned by failures to meet statutory deadlines, such as those for the EIP and Nutrient Action Plan - the latter is even more concerning given the issues at Lough Neagh.
“This failure has frequently been linked to the absence of Ministers. Now that the Executive and Assembly are restored, we hope that these will be progressed with urgency.”
Dame Glenys also congratulated the politicians on their new roles and wrote that she was looking forward to working with them all to improve Northern Ireland’s environment.
Read the letters in full via the blue buttons on this page.
