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

Just to say to the Minister of State in respect of the export figures she is quoting, a large proportion of that includes all-Ireland trade which is not actually quantified because the Government does not identify it. If the Government has a real issue with exports, ban the export of peat from the island of Ireland. It will have the full support of my party in that respect. Here is the crux. Every player in the sector has told us that they are facing an existential crisis. I welcome the works that have been ongoing trying to identify alternatives to peat. The very fact that the Government is investing money in trying to find those alternatives is an acknowledgement in itself that the alternatives are not currently there. The only alternative that exists is the importation of peat from other parts of the world where we have no oversight in respect of the regulation. I have to say to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, that he has to take ownership of this issue. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is playing games. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is playing games. It will require a ministerial lead in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to grab this issue by the scruff of the neck.

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