The Environmental Protection Agency has opened a number of investigations into the illegal extraction of peat from bogs across the country.
Drone footage and aerial maps have been sent from the EPA to local authority planning offices concerning 38 sites of unauthorized activity in particular.
The Irish Independent shows that the majority are located in Offaly (9) and Westmeath (8) with six located in each of Roscommon and Tipperary.
Four sites in Kildare and Longford are under investigation, while authorities are looking into one location in Sligo.
Files released from the EPA show clear evidence of large scale unauthorized commercial peat extraction.
Photos released show expensive machinery, complex drainage systems, extensive rows and stacks of cut peat and, in some cases, large warehouses on site.
This comes despite the ban on the commercial sale of peat for solid fuel heating and the restriction of peat cutting for other purposes.