Ireland should follow the example of Denmark by paying much more attention to integrating the environment into all areas of policy, according to a senior official of the European Commission.
Dr Colette O'Loan, who heads the environment programme of the Commission's regional policy directorate, told a seminar in Co Cavan that Ireland needed to recognise the importance of the environment to its future prosperity.
The two-day seminar, organised by the Institute for Public Administration, is being attended by 30 county managers and engineers as well as civil servants from central government and delegates from Denmark.