Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
2163. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress to date in resolving the peat supply issues affecting the horticulture and mushroom sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41738/22]
View answerMy Department, in conjunction with the Departments of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), and Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Housing) has developed a series of actions to support the horticultural growers who are dependent on peat as a growing medium.
In these targeted actions which reflect the multi-faceted nature of the problem, my Department is endeavouring to address the short-term issue of supply, the medium term one of future access to peat and also the longer-term issue of replacement with alternatives.
My Department has commissioned an independent expert to work with all peat suppliers to ascertain the level of horticultural peat stocks available to growers and to identify sub-30 hectare sites for the extraction of peat that may be used for domestic horticultural use.
My Department has also commissioned experts to provide focused guidance to those wishing to achieve regulatory compliance for extraction of horticultural peat on sub-30 hectare bogs for supply to the domestic horticulture industry.
A draft of this report has been received by my Department and will be finalised shortly. It is essential that there is full engagement with the regulatory processes in order to ensure peat supply for the domestic horticulture industry.
My Department, in looking towards the future, continues to support and facilitate research in the development of alternatives to peat for horticulture.
My Department recently committed €1.69m to a research project ‘Beyond Peat’ with a project start date of February 1st 2022. The project is co-ordinated by Teagasc Horticultural Development Department, with project partners from the Technological University of the Shannon, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Limerick and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Northern Ireland.
The project aim is to identify full and partial replacements for peat within professional horticulture, preferably with materials sourced within Ireland. The project is progressing well to schedule and will run from 2022 to 2027.
Separately, my Department is funding research projects on peat alternatives through the EU producer organisation (PO) scheme for fruit and vegetables
