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

I must put on record that I will be asking the Ceann Comhairle to review the Topical Issue debate procedure. Perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will let the Ceann Comhairle know that. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan. She has a very important role in her own right. However, there is no way that we can describe this as a debate. Regardless of what I ask in my follow-up contribution, the Minister of State will read a prepared statement. That is not a debate and it is not an acceptable way for Departments to behave, particularly when we are dealing with an issue that could genuinely put entire businesses out of work.

As I mentioned, this issue crosses three Departments. For more than two years, they have essentially been dodging responsibility among themselves over what has become a real and existential crisis in the mushroom sector, as I am very aware. We had a bizarre situation where Government Senators from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael produced legislation in the Seanad and then had to remove it because they could not get the support of their Government colleagues. The inaction and indifference of Government has meant the mushroom sector, those who work in it and the communities that depend on it are facing an existential threat due to the shortage of horticultural peat. The problem has not been resolved and shows no signs of being resolved, despite what the Minister has said.

The sector needs peat. The Government set up a working group. It commissioned a report, granted an extension to the report, considered the report and then proceeded to ignore large portions of it.

If action is not taken, we will see the further importation of huge shipments of peat from the far side of Europe - it is bizarre, frankly - where we have no environmental oversight whatsoever, rather than the limited extraction of peat the sector is seeking in order to allow those in the sector to continue in business until alternatives to peat are found. The language is right but the actions need to be there. I know it is not the responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, but, frankly, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, needs to step up to the mark and be willing to engage in debate on this issue.

See this speech in context