The pressure is on for Environment Minister Arlene Foster to make a decision on an environmental protection agency for NI.

Assembly ministers and members of the business community have called for the agency to be set up.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK and Ireland that does not have such an independent watchdog however environmental work is currently performed by the DOE's Environment and Heritage Service.

Twenty-one statements of support for an EPA are being issued by the Coalition for Environmental Protection.

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The statements were collated by Lisa Fagan of Friends of the Earth.

"Although the call to establish an agency came first from the environmental community, the chorus of support is getting louder as the consensus grows that a high-quality environment underpins economic prosperity," she said.

"Mrs Foster has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform our failing system of environmental protection.

"We hope the endorsements published today will encourage the Minister to introduce the necessary reforms."

Peter Dixon, head of Phoenix Gas in Northern Ireland, is also in support: "The establishment of such an agency would greatly support the Northern Ireland business community by the promotion and communication of environmental best practice."

He said that given that we now govern our own affairs it is time for a fresh start.

(GK/JM)