Senator Pippa Hackett:

Ultimately, we will get to a situation where we will not have peat. Whether we extract it all and there is none left, we will end up at a situation where we do not have peat for every use we want it for. We are exploring the alternatives which potentially utilise spent peat. It is circular in nature in an economy sense. There are other possibilities in terms of coir, wood fibre or biochar so the possibilities are great. Perhaps there will be some further investment in that area. We do not, however, have an infinite supply of peat. The wider horticulture sector will have to move away from it. I appreciate the particular difficulty with the mushroom sector. Certainly, I enjoy my mushrooms as much as anyone else and I want to buy Irish mushrooms and will endeavour to make sure we can continue to produce and grow them here.

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