Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 January 2021
902. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address concerns within the Irish horticulture sector that the decision by Bord na Móna to cease all peat production will make the sector financially unviable and lead to significant job losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4035/21]
View answerMy Department has no involvement in the regulation of Peat extraction, as this is a planning process under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and an Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) license process, under the remit of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
On 7th September 2020, my colleague Malcolm Noonan T.D., Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, published a report on the review of the use of Peat Moss in the Horticultural Industry. The review report was prepared by an inter-agency working group following on from the submissions from stakeholders.
After the publication of this report, Minister Noonan proposed the establishment of a working group to consider impacts on the sector. This working group will represent Government Departments, including Agriculture, Food and the Marine, State Agencies, Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations and industry stakeholders. This working group will address the key issues raised in the report itself, including future use of peat by the horticulture sector. The position of Chair for the Independent Working Group was advertised and the closing date for receipt of the applications was 23rd November 2020. Once the Chair is in place, membership of the working group can be established.
In addition to these developments, my Department is actively looking at alternatives to peat and has funded two research projects to date. It has also recently issued the Research Call for 2021. An identified area of research here is to explore alternatives to peat based growing media for horticultural production. These must be available, affordable and sustainable and meet quality as well as environmental requirements
