Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right. Those constituents of hers have to be at the centre of all of our attention. The cessation of peat extraction for industrial peat, power generation or horticultural use is a matter that is being led by the courts. The political system cannot intervene in the judicial process in that regard. However, we can start to promote the alternatives that will create the jobs that give us a sustainable future and will provide growth for Bord na Móna and for other private operators involved in managing our bogs into the future. That is not involving a handful of jobs. It has to be hundreds and thousands of jobs. I hope we can look within the stimulus package to advance further measures that will use the expertise that exists within the Bord na Móna workforce in managing bogs to see the storage of carbon and the benefit to the environment, as well as long-term jobs potential in the area.

See this speech in context