Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
309. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage the reason that he chose to set aside the recommendation of the report of the Working Group on Horticultural Peat with respect to the need to gradually phase out the use of peat by 2030 and with a complete cessation date by 2035; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3525/22]
View answer310. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will direct his Minister of State to reconvene the Working Group on Horticultural Peat to in order to provide those who contributed to the Working Group consultation process an opportunity to understand the reason that the recommendations of the report have been set aside in favour of a series of ten actions outlined by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3526/22]
View answerThe Working Group on the Use of Peat Moss in the Horticultural Industry was established following a series of High Court decisions which determined that large-scale peat harvesting requires planning permission and licensing by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Working Group was tasked in particular with examining the potential of alternatives to peat for the horticultural industry.
Following on from the Chair’s report, officials in my Department worked with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), to develop a series of actions to address the issues.
On 17th January, my colleague, Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has responsibility for Horticulture at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, published the series of actions developed to support Irish horticultural growers who are dependent on peat. The range of actions in the series are those which, in the shared view of the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Environment, Climate and Communications, inter alia, can reasonably, legally and practically be put in place to support the €469 million horticulture industry, the people employed and the many families that depend on this important sector.
The Working Paper that includes the Series of Actions to support horticultural growers can be found at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/39315-working-paper-to-address-challenges-related-to-peat-supply-in-the-horticulture-sector/.
