Mr. Philip Nugent:

The first part of the question, which related to Bord na Móna, is for me. I can talk about sites greater than 50 ha. I do not agree with the characterisation of Bord na Móna walking off the pitch. Bord na Móna was affected in the same way as every other operator by the 2019 High Court judgment. It is not true to say that it voluntarily walked off the pitch. It was quite severely impacted by that decision. Bord na Móna has been a very active member of the working group Mr. Lucas talked about and has done quite a lot to support the horticulture sector. Since 2019, Bord na Móna has not harvested any peat. It cannot harvest peat without further regularisation. Since the judgment, Bord na Móna has actively engaged with all customers of professional grade horticulture peat and their representative organisations. Bord na Móna has been clear and transparent in communicating its exit from peat harvesting and the impact this will have on the sector but, to assist the sector, it ensured that Irish customers of professional grade horticulture peat were supplied with 40% more peat in 2021 than the equivalent period in 2020. It has also formally ceased the export of horticulture grade peat, which resulted in 94% of pre-existing and planned shipments to all export customers being cancelled. Bord na Móna is very active in this space and has been very supportive of the horticulture sector.

With regard to applications that are in the system, at the meeting on 6 July, the representative from Growing Media Ireland said that two or possibly three had engaged or had submitted applications to An Bord Pleanála. I am not entirely sure. That is a matter for it to address but it is a small number that have engaged with the system. With regard to sites greater than 50 ha that are operating at the moment, none are operating lawfully. Any that are operating are operating unlawfully because they do not have the required planning permission, IPC licence or either of them.