Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If those in the sector are watching today, they will not be full of confidence about what is going on. In fact, they will be disturbed when they hear what is being proposed and what this report has finalised. Like other speakers here and other members, I am annoyed that the report was published at 11 a.m. and that we were expected at a meeting today and to be able to ask serious questions. We may have to bring the Minister of State back to the committee once we get an opportunity to read the report. We are busy too and have a lot of other committees to attend and other obligations. Like other speakers, I do not like going to a meeting unless I know I have something to contribute.

From the beginning this whole debacle has been very upsetting to me. I have been very vocal on it. on the basis that there is talk about alternatives. Why did the Minister of State not wait until she had the alternatives rather than put this sector under pressure? This reminds me of the briquettes situation. People are paying almost €10 for a bale of briquettes, which comes from Germany and other countries. The State owns 90% of the bogs in this country but this sector is really being put out by what has happened with the Department. I expected that we would have a roadmap, outlining what was going to happen in the future, but I did not hear about that roadmap. In fact, all I heard from the Minister of State and the Department was about closure - closing off the maps, closing off the roads and closing the businesses and getting people out. These people have been in this business for a long time and have made a major contribution to society. These people are not asking the State for anything. What they want is to be able to continue to do their business. What has happened is that the Department is talking about alternatives but it is trying to put as many of these people out of business as possible. I have to say that I am aggravated by this. People talk about alternatives. We are bringing in peat from other parts of Europe. It is like the sky. The Green Party talks about the environment. The sky covers Russia, China and every other big nation in the world. We are trying to get Ireland to solve the world's problems. Of course we have to play our part in climate change and so on. However, the trouble with this country is that we always have to go ten steps further than everybody else. We should have waited until we had the alternatives in place and to see if people would be left in business. When we had the alternatives, then we could have brought in what we had to bring in and try to work with people to get them to change to other alternatives.

This business and the people involved in the sector are really angry and annoyed. I did not see any roadmap today. I am disappointed there is not a roadmap and people watching from the sector will be disappointed. They will ask about what is happening with their business and what the Government wants them to do. I do not want to make a personal attack on anybody but I am not full of confidence today listening to what those who spoke said in regard to this sector. I mean no disrespect to any of them as they are all fine, qualified people but it is fine for them. We will get our salaries at the end of this month but these people have to work and produce and ensure they keep their businesses. They employ people and have a responsibility to them. They have a responsibility to their businesses for the coming year to see what will happen. I am disappointed by what is happening today but I will not say anything further.