Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 16 February 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion

Photo of Martin BrowneMartin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the witnesses. The horticultural sector has been a major contributor to the economy, to the value of €437 million, which is not to be sneezed at. We need to do all we can, as a committee and as Deputies, to help the sector. The terminal decline through increased costs that will be involved - the last speaker said the price could double - will drive out the smaller people and it will favour only competitors from other countries to the detriment of our own.

In the review of the use of peat moss in the horticultural industry, was adequate attention given to the impact that ending the use of peat moss would have on the industry? Have the witnesses been contacted by the new working group? It has not even elected a chairperson, which is crazy when people are working to such tight deadlines. Before this meeting, we were told that the alternatives to peat moss can form only part of the overall volume of growing media. How long would it take to develop a suitable alternative that is independent of peat moss, or will we be importing moss peat for the foreseeable future?

Are we back to the usual scenario of engagement after a decision has been made or, as I said before, closing the stable door after the horse has bolted?

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