Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach is aware, garden centres, nurseries, soft fruit growers and the horticultural industry in general rely to a great extent on the availability of milled peat. Bord na Móna currently has stocks of milled peat and a proportion of it was earmarked for the horticultural sector. Recently, it has become apparent that Bord na Móna has diverted a lot of peat to export markets. As a result of the curtailment in supplies, the horticultural industry is losing its crucial raw material of milled peat. This is endangering their business and has serious implications for sustaining jobs in the sector. In Tipperary alone, this current policy will damage and adversely affect 19 horticultural outlets, six major growers and put at risk 480 jobs. I ask the Taoiseach to review the use of peat in the horticultural sector. Its use in this sector does not involve pollution and can in fact go beyond the status of carbon-neutral and become carbon-friendly.

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