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

Deputy Martin Browne has raised the fundamental question here. At the moment there is no viable alternative and certainly no environmentally sustainable alternative to use of horticultural peat in the mushroom industry. The Deputy mentioned 3,000 jobs. These are concentrated in counties like my own county of Monaghan where there are very few alternative economic drivers for the local economy. Therefore, the alternatives to the use of domestic horticultural peat are that we continue to import peat from outside the State, that we export our mushroom industry or that flexibility is shown to allow a sector like that to use domestic peat. The volume needed for this use is a fraction of what was needed for energy production. In the wider scheme of things, we are talking about very small quantities of peat that will actually keep a vibrant and crucially important element of our rural economy going. Which one of those three is the Minister of State willing to pursue?

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