Mr. Kieran Dunne:

The first loads of compost came from Scotland into north Dublin this week. We work very closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Teagasc and Bord Bia on exports, growing local plants and creating import substitution. I have worked with them for the past 20 years. The quality of Irish peat is totally different from that which we could buy from the Baltic states, Scotland or any other country. It is within the remit of all of us, including every Department, to look after the industry, including big growers and smaller growers. The growers in the south and west of the country will be significantly disadvantaged as they may have to pay more than double the current price for compost. The smaller growers that use a small amount of compost will not have their orders recognised by the larger companies, so it will be impossible for them to even purchase peat. If they do manage to purchase it, they may have to pay four times the price. There are significant difficulties within the industry. As Mr. Gleeson stated, it is not a problem of our making.

The other major difficulty is that if the major players go out of the market, we will not have quality mixing plants for the horticulture professional industry. That goes back to what happened with sugar factories. If it is gone, we will have a major problem. We will not be able to claw it back. They are major issues for our industry. The big guys will survive but the smaller guys in rural communities will have serious difficulty surviving. We used 0.5% of the overall peat harvest in 2019. It is a minuscule amount. To service the amenity sector within Ireland will only require between 100 ha and 110 ha of peat.