Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The 2011 bogland report by the Environmental Protection Agency noted 10 million tonnes of annual emissions from peatland degradation and burning, equivalent to Ireland's annual car emissions. We all know that there are many jobs tied up in peat and turf in the midlands now but we will not be able to continue burning peat like we are now. Is there any Government plan to start a job creation programme in the midlands designed to replace those currently involved with the climate-damaging extraction of peat? Is there any long-term plan for creating jobs that will eventually replace those currently tied to the peat industry?

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