Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I would like to address the use of peat as a growing medium in the horticulture industry. The court case in 2019 which removed the exemption from planning permission for peat extraction is having, and will have, a significant impact on the industry. I thank representatives of the sector for highlighting this issue. Theirs is a very important industry. It provides employment and a safe, sustainable food supply for this country. We need to expand our horticultural industry and we need to take any threats to it very seriously. I commend the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, in putting together a working group, which is bringing the horticulture industry together with environmental and scientific experts to try to arrive at some solutions. It is clear that not only is this an urgent problem, it is a problem without an easy solution. Representatives from the sector have acknowledged that they need to move away from peat as a growing medium but the challenge is how quickly that can be done. The Green Party is playing its part in supporting our horticulture industry and trying to find a solution to this problem. I reject the views of those who are trying to turn the issue of horticultural peat into another episode of a supposed culture war between environmentalism and agriculture. There may be those whose political or business interests are furthered by such a culture war but we should reject it and spurn those who seek to spread division. We should hear all perspectives because we need to find solutions that work.

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