Mr. Paddy Gleeson:

Let me put this into perspective. The horticultural industry only used 1.7% of the total peat harvested by Bord na Móna. I worked as a nursery stock specialist in Teagasc for 40 years and have considerable knowledge of the industry. I will give some up-to-date information on Teagasc's views on what is happening. The nursery stock currently uses 0.5% of the peat that is harvested, which is relatively a very small amount.

I will give a brief outline of what has happened in the nursery industry. I started working in the industry in the early 1970s. Prior to that, in the previous decade, all nursery hardy plants were grown in the open ground. Selling was confined to the dormant season from the end of November up to early March. Growing plants in containers totally revolutionised the growing of hardy plants. It was mainly due to the importance of stagnant peat as a bulk constituent of growing medium. As a result of decades of research by both private and public parties, of variety of peat growing media has been developed for different horticultural enterprises.

The Senator asked about the alternatives. Let us consider the value of peat. Peat has physical properties. Without getting too technical, it has air space and water hole retention properties. It has chemical properties with a low pH and low nutrient status, ideal for mixing various composts, and has biological properties. It is free from pests and disease, and from weeds and weed seeds. The growth of the nursery industry is directly related to the availability of Irish peat. I do not like quoting too many figures, but I will just give one figure. In the midlands within a radius of 25 miles of Tullamore, there are 25 nurseries employing approximately 250 workers generating a total output in excess of €15 million. It is very important in the midlands.

The Senator asked about Teagasc. As I said, I worked in Teagasc as a nursery stock specialist. I quote from Teagasc's submission to the recent review of peat in horticulture and the key industry issues, which stated:

There are currently no other abundant materials that have suitable properties at an affordable cost. Selecting any other material currently requires a grower to compromise in terms of crop risk where aspects of crop husbandry, yield and quality are potentially impacted and currently under-researched.

The Senator asked about the alternatives. The alternative is basically coir coming from 10,000 km away in Sri Lanka and India. It is suitable for some products at a reduced input, but it is certainly not suitable for all crops. It has significant transport implications and is certainly increasing in cost considerably. We have very little pine bark available in Ireland. Wood fibre, which is coming into the equation at the moment, is sustainable. It is now competing with biofuels and it is certainly increasing in cost. Green waste is something that has been researched. The Senator may know a colleague of mine in Kinsealy, Michael Maher, who did considerable work on green waste. It presents many challenges due to its low air status, its low stability and the possibility of impurities. While green waste is being researched, it is certainly not an answer for inclusion in compost.

Over the decades, growers have developed significant technical understanding of peat performance and its response in Irish growing conditions. It would take many years to develop the competence and understanding of managing growing media with new physical and chemical properties.

Currently, we are seeing the addition of up to 30% alternatives, such as wood fibre in peat, but it is a long-term research programme to find a suitable compost mix.

In conclusion, it is by and large a rural-based industry and my colleague Mr. Kieran Dunne will give the committee the cost implications of the impact of shutting down such a rural-based industry. People give great consideration to biosecurity. We will be importing significant quantities of plants because if we are not producing here we certainly will have to import from elsewhere. There could be significant biosecurity issues for the environment etc. There is also, of course, the additional carbon footprint of transporting peat, mainly from the Baltic states, and possibly from Russia in the future. Internationally, irrespective of the mode of transport, there is no benefit to the world in doing this.

My final comment on the nurseries industry is that many of those involved have told me that they have come through storms, a downturn and the onset of Covid-19. They are still productive but many of them are asking how much more can they can take and it is certain that none of this is of their making.