Government Appoints New Director General to the Board of the Environmental Protection Agency
Date released: February 10, 2026
10 February 2026. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to welcome Dr Eimear Cotter as the new Director General of the EPA. She will take up her new position as Director General of the EPA Board with effect from 8 March, 2026.
Eimear Cotter joins fellow Directors Dr Tom Ryan (Office of Environmental Enforcement), David Flynn (Office of Environmental Sustainability), Darragh Page (Office of Communications and Corporate Services) and Patrick Byrne (Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring).
Dr Cotter has been a Director in the EPA since 2017. She was appointed Deputy Director General in May 2025. Eimear is currently Director of the Office of Evidence and Assessment with responsibility for climate including carbon emissions trading, water management, environmental research and data analytics. Previously she was Director of the Office of Environmental Sustainability which included responsibility for Environmental Licensing.
She holds a BA (Mod) in chemistry from Trinity College Dublin, a PhD in atmospheric chemistry from Oxford University and an MBA from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. She is a Board member on the Governing Board of the Institute of Art, Design and Technology. Eimear is a 2019 Eisenhower Fellow and was formerly a Board member on the National Statistics Board (2017-2023). Eimear originally comes from Carlow.
Further information: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office: 053-91 70770 (24 hours) and media@epa.ie
Notes to Editor
The Environmental Protection Agency is managed by a full-time Executive Board consisting of a Director General and five Directors. Director General of the EPA is a full-time executive position, with a seven-year term of office. Appointment of Director General of the EPA by Government follows from a recommendation made by an independent selection committee convened in accordance with the EPA Act, 1992. The independent selection committee conducts a public recruitment competition to select candidates suitable for recommendations to Government.