Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of the work that has been done. I know the recommendation here is that it should involve pieces of bog that are less than 30 ha. The difficulty when applications are going in is that when there are non-adjacent plots, they are putting them all in as one and saying that they are connected underground. There are serious issues here.

At the moment, the application process that is in place will take up to six years between having to go through the EPA process, the planning process and possible judicial reviews, etc. It simply will not work. There is recognition by everyone in the industry, from the people who provide the peat and from the industry in the horticultural sector that requires the peat. This is also particularly the case for the mushroom industry, which is one of the key industries that is suffering most because of this.

There needs to be legislation to change those requirements. That is one of the key recommendations that came from the working group, but the Government has failed to recognise it or to put it in place. That was supposed to happen before the end of last year. Will the Minister commit to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to ensure such legislation will be put in place as quickly as possible?

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