Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My Department engaged with all stakeholders through the deliberations of the working group on the use of peat moss in the horticultural industry. In addition, on foot of a request for direct discussions with my Department, my officials met with representatives of the professional horticulture sector, including the mushroom sector, to discuss the legal position regarding peat extraction and the impacts on the horticulture sector of the diminishing supply of peat.

As part of that discussion, the question of a guidance document regarding the regulatory requirements for peat extraction was raised. Guidance along such lines was subsequently commissioned by my Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, as referenced in the working paper, which is available on gov.ie. My officials have also been engaging regularly with their counterparts in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I should say that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has taken a real lead recently, which is appropriate because the horticulture industry is obviously central to its functions.

I believe the Department is now working effectively with local groups around the country to identify sites that could be developed for use in the industry. It has to be within European environmental regulations and rules. We can no longer continue with a system whereby peat is extracted but is not recorded, the environmental conditions are being breached or we are in breach of what we committed to under the functions of the treaties of the European Union. I believe that can be done. We will have to devise a mechanism to wean ourselves off the use of peat in the medium term. In the short term, I am confident that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, working with the horticulture and peat industry, will be able to find material that we can use in a sustainable, legal and environmentally correct way.

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