Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
178. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress made ascertaining the level of horticultural peat stock available to growers; and if his Department has commissioned experts to provide free advice to those wishing to achieve regulatory compliance for extraction of horticultural peat on sub-30-hectare bogs for supply to the domestic horticulture industry. [7076/22]
View answerOn 17th January, my Department, in conjunction with the Departments of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), and Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Housing) published a working paper that sets out a series of actions to support the horticultural growers who are dependent on peat as a growing medium.
The commissioning of an independent expert to work with all peat suppliers to ascertain the level of horticultural peat stocks available to growers is one of the key actions in that working paper.
A second key action that I announced was the commissioning of experts to provide guidance on planning to assist those wishing to achieve regulatory compliance for the extraction of peat to ensure the medium term access to peat for horticulture growers. It is not anticipated that the expert would be directly involved in the preparation of individual planning applications or associated documents or have any direct engagement with planning authorities in respect of specific cases.
I understand the importance of delivering these actions quickly. As the Deputy can appreciate, there are procedures and protocols to be adhered to as part of the process of commissioning such experts. My Department is currently engaged in this process with a view to having the services of these experts available as soon as possible.
