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

I first raised concerns in this House regarding the availability of peat to the Irish horticultural sector, in particular, the mushroom sector, in July 2020. I was told by the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine that his Department was working as part of a cross-departmental group evaluating the use of peat in the commercial horticultural sector. At that point, the problems were evident. The scandalous situation whereby huge quantities of Irish peat had been exported was to be replaced by an equally scandalous situation whereby peat would be imported. In September 2020, I was informed by the current Minister, Deputy McConalogue, that following the report of the cross-departmental group, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, had set up a working group to consider the impacts on the sector. Then, over the following ten months, while a sector with a farm gate value of almost €500 million and supporting nearly 18,000 jobs held its breath, I submitted countless questions to Ministers, including the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Environment, Climate and Communications, and Housing, Local Government and Heritage, seeking basic information that farmers were crying out for. I asked whether just transition funds would be made available to offset increased costs. I asked if any Minister was taking action to ensure a regulatory framework that would allow for peat harvesting would be put in place. I also asked if the report of the working group would be published, when it would be published and why it was delayed. I must say that trying to get any information from the Ministers was like trying to get blood out of a stone. In fact, most of the information I got came from media reports. At that time, the question I was most commonly but quietly asked was where the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine was in all of this.

I have to ask that question again now. I think the Minister is in the other House right now. Over the past month, Sinn Féin has sought Dáil debates on this issue each and every week and each request has been refused by Government. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine sought a joint hearing with three Ministers that have responsibility in this area, namely, the Ministers for the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Minister of State at that Department, Deputy Noonan. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister of State indicated they would attend only if the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications was present. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications refused to attend, so no hearing has taken place. None of the Ministers who have a role in resolving this issue are here for this Topical Issue debate, and there are enough of them. They include the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Ministers of State at his Department, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Ministers of State at his Department, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Ministers of State at his Department. None of them could make themselves available for this debate. That is very telling, as has been the Government response to the independent report that it commissioned. The Government has actually set aside some of the report's most significant findings and recommendations, including the finding that there are currently no viable alternatives to the continued use of peat moss in the horticultural and mushroom sectors, and that emergency legislation was required before the end of last year to deliver a regulatory framework that would allow for some harvesting of peat moss in areas where there is no alternative. The working paper produced has done very little to instil confidence that progress is being made. The plain fact is that the current regulatory framework is unworkable, as found by the independent report.

It is important to state that we all recognise that environmental law must be adhered to. What is being sought is a framework in which that law works. In other EU member states, peat can be harvested for horticultural purposes in line with EU laws. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has told me that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is now responsible for this issue. I want to know whether the Government, having essentially sat out this crisis for the past two years, is ready to take action.

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