Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 30 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Seamus Boland:

I would argue strongly that we did not ignore that sector at all. Again if the Deputy remembers what I said at the beginning, there were a lot of sites that simply could not be considered for a whole range of legal, access and planning reasons. They had to be ruled out and also they were not suitable. Second, those that could have been used still have to go through planning even for normal, what we call, horticultural production. We are still stuck with the reality that they will have to go through the planning system. No, we did not in any way ignore them and as I said at the beginning, if people are listening, if they do have a site like that, let me know or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine know.