asked the Minister for Agriculture the action he proposes to take to promote the use of unheated greenhouses in the production of vegetables, flowers and fruit crops; if he accepts that in the circumstances of the excessive cost of heating oil the only hope of many growers is the effective use of unheated greenhouses, that very many extensive areas of glass have been withdrawn from service and are now lying derelict and that the only real hope is development of the use of unheated houses; if he is satisfied that sufficient attention has been devoted to this aspect by An Foras Talúntais; and if he will have his technical officers review the position.
Written Answers. - Unheated Greenhouses.
358.
Unheated glasshouse production has been an integral part of the development of the horticultural industry over the years. In fact about one-third of the glasshouse area in the country does not have heating and produces a range of cold house crops. In view of the problems which the rise in energy costs has created for the heated glasshouse sector many growers have cut back on oil usage by adopting a later cropping pattern or by changing to crops which have lower energy requirements. According to the information available to my Department however the area of glass withdrawn from cropping is very small and can be attributed mainly to economic and management reasons not directly related to the energy costs.
The research work of An Foras Talúntais includes all forms of glasshouse cropping and takes full account of the changes in energy costs. Advice to growers on the best pattern of production to suit individual cases is, of course, available from the ACOT advisory service.