Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The sector will not go under. I accept there are associated costs with peat if people are having to import peat. The sector is under pressure not just because of peat. As the Senator mentioned, there are issues with labour and energy costs. My Department addressed the added pressures in the sector with its horticultural exceptional payment scheme this year, which was a €2.8 million fund introduced to alleviate increased input costs, including those associated with peat. The sector engaged with that fund and expressed gratitude for it.

It has helped them, but it is not fair to say that the sector will go under. We are here to support it. We are working hard, not only within my own Department. I am engaging with my ministerial colleagues on this. It is something that we absolutely must get right.

To reiterate, there is no ban on peat extraction in here.