Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Current Government policy means there will be no mushroom industry in Ireland. I am asking for consideration to be given to this and for a bit of common sense in the approach. The working group the Minister of State references has one fatal flaw: it includes in its terms of reference the ceasing of the use of horticultural peat.

The mushroom industry has been looking at alternatives for the past ten years. The Department keeps telling it there are alternatives. There are not. This is a fundamentally difficult point and the nub of it is that people are not going to eat less mushrooms. The only question will be where and how the mushrooms are produced. One of two things will happen if we ban the use of horticultural peat. Either the peat will be imported - in fact, there is already talk of it being imported from eastern Europe - or the jobs and economic importance of these companies, particularly, the mushroom companies, will be exported. They will go elsewhere. Which course is the Government planning to take? Will it take a third course and actually work with the industry to save it?

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