Mr. John Neenan:

I thank the committee for inviting us to the meeting at such short notice. As the Senator said, the industry is in a critical stage. Peat supplies have virtually run out and will be finished by the end of September. That will certainly cause major upheaval, with potentially up to 17,000 people made unemployed. It will also affect the sector and nurseries that have been in business for two and three generations in rural Ireland, which will be devastating in certain areas. We highlighted the situation previously and we are very disappointed that the Department has not taken the opportunity to appear before the committee to explain its actions. Growing Media Ireland and the other representatives with me today have engaged fully with the working group. We had six meetings and we produced an interim report. That went to the Minister almost two months ago. There has been no reaction to that, other than saying the Minister understands the situation. We are in a critical situation. I will ask the mushroom producers and nursery stock representatives to explain in more detail how it is affecting their businesses.