Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have been discussing this issue and many others. I appreciate the efforts that the Chair and committee staff have made to accommodate every party in respect of this issue. It is a crisis. I have been discussing this with the nurseries and the horticulture sector on a regular basis. They are pressurising us, as politicians, for results. I appreciate that we get ample time to question the witnesses and I welcome them here. I thank the Chair for not spending too much time on statements in order that we do not lose the valuable time we need to get our points across.

The point I want to get across is that I cannot understand for the life of me why this crisis has continued in the way it has. Who is in the wrong here? Why can it not be resolved temporarily until something is put in place? Somebody has got to put up their hand and take the blame. It is either Minister or the Department that needs to do so. Who in the name of God is going to take the blame? Will the buck be passed from one to the other? As Deputy Carthy said, maybe we will just have to come back here again to see if we can get to some kind of solution. I have no issue about coming back here; the nurseries are severely affected on the ground.

I only have a few questions. Many of those I was going to ask have already been dealt with. My argument is that there was a withdrawal from peat without a plan being in place. The nurseries have been left flat-footed. They were given no time to adjust. When other businesses are affected, there is some kind of compensation package put in place. Has the Department considered a compensation package? If it has, what kind of package is it?

The issue of the timeframe was raised. Can we have Irish peat for Irish growers? It is a simple question. The third question is whether some bogs can be redefined as no longer being peatland habitats. Is it possible to re-wet bogland and then have suitable peat that can be used for horticulture?

I have a fourth question and then I will leave it at that. Last week, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Pippa Hackett, released a statement to say that a stock of Irish peat will alleviate the immediate issue may have been secured. The industry would like to clarification on this stock of peat. If it is stockpiled peat, it will not be suitable for the casing layers used in mushroom growing. Is it stockpiled peat or is it not?