Record funding for Irish Department of the Environment

A clear message has been sent that the environment is gaining political importance in Ireland, with the Department of the Environment getting a bigger slice of the pie than ever before in the country's proposed budget settlement.



The proposals see the Department's income up €173m, or 6%, to just over €2.87 billion.



Water services and the Environmental Protection Agency are among those which will see the most benefit from the budgetary increases.