Inward Investment in Ireland - The Role of the Environmental Advisor

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Environmental legislation in Ireland differs significantly from that of the USA or other countries. As an Inward Investor in Ireland you need the expertise of an Environmental Adviser in Ireland to ensure that your investment:

  • Achieves Environmental Permitting in the required timescale, and;
  • Obtains a Permit which is cost effective and practical to operate without excessive capital and operational costs.

The Role of the Environmental Adviser

AWN has worked as Environmental Adviser to some of the world's largest blue-chip companies, including: a world-leading microelectonics company, Pfizer, Coca-Cola, Bristol Myers Squibb, Covanta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Johnson and Johnson, over the last 15 years, on pharmaceutical, biotechnology, semi-conductor and data centre facilities. The estimated combined investment value of projects we have worked on to date is over USD$10billion. We have supported clients from initial greenfield due diligence to site selection, environmental permitting and environmental compliance during construction and operation.

We work with senior management and VP level personnel from the parent company to develop environmental compliance strategies which are cost effective, which maximise the capability of the facility to expand and which are practical and flexible to operate. In our experience too many inward investment projects end up with environmental permits which are restrictive and expensive to operate, whereas with sufficient technical input and strategy development during Front and Detailed Design, a more practical and cost effective Permit could be achieved. 

What We Can Do

We work with the advance team from the Client to explain how Irish permitting legislation is applied and enforced. AWN staff have prepared the National Irish Government Guidance on Air Quality and Noise assessment and Modelling and been part of the team which prepared Soils and Hydrogeology. AWN is also the Technical Adviser on the team currently preparing the updated National Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment in Ireland for the Environmental Protection Agency.

We will lead the environmental permitting approach, working with your design team to explain the localisation required to meet permit requirements in a cost effective and practical manner. We have a team of over 30 technical personnel with specific disciplines in Air, Noise, Water, Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Wastewater, Major Accident Hazard Modelling, Risk Assessment and Waste Management, and who lecture in some of the country's leading Universities including Trinity College Dublin and Queens University Belfast.

Dr. Fergal Callaghan is a Director at AWN Consulting and leads the team which supports inward investment clients, he can be contacted through email to fergal.callaghan@awnconsulting.com and on +353 1 847 4220 

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