Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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27. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which he plans to support the continued operation of the Irish horticulture industry in view of the proposed ban on the harvesting of peat for horticultural purposes. [33514/20]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This question is on the horticulture industry. There is a ban proposed on the harvesting of peat for horticultural purposes and plans for it are very much advanced . There has been a conflation of peat extraction for this purpose and its extraction for energy purposes. They are two different worlds. What does the Government plan to do on this, particularly where the mushroom sector, which is incredibly important in my own constituency, is concerned?

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I am very aware of the current dependence of the horticultural industry on the availability of peat moss. The High Court decision to strike down the legislation introduced in January 2019 regulating the extraction of peat now means that extraction of peat from bogs greater than 30 ha. requires companies to go through a licensing and planning regime. The more recent decision by Bord na Móna to suspend all peat extraction presents major supply challenges for the horticulture sector.

Following on from the publication of a report on the review of the use of peat moss in the horticulture industry by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, plans to set up a working group to consider impacts on the sector. It is proposed that this working group will represent Departments, including the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, State agencies, environmental NGOs and industry stakeholders. This working group will address the key issues raised in the report, including future use of peat by the horticulture sector. The position of chair of the independent working group that will be formed is currently being advertised and the closing date for receipt of the applications is 23 November. Once the chair is in place, the setting up of the working group members will take place.

At a broader level, the Department provides a support to the horticulture industry through the scheme of investment aid for the development of the horticulture sector. Financial support is available to assist growers and businesses through grant aid for capital investments in specialised plant and equipment including renewable energy, as well as technology adoption specific to commercial horticulture production.

It is expected that the full budget allocation to the scheme of €6 million for 2020 will be drawn down by the end of the year. A 50% budget increase to €9 million was secured by the Department for 2021, reflecting the importance of the sector. That particular scheme is now open for applications. In addition, my Department administers the EU producer organisation scheme for fruit and vegetables which allows growers jointly market their production in order to strengthen the position of producers in the marketplace.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Current Government policy means there will be no mushroom industry in Ireland. I am asking for consideration to be given to this and for a bit of common sense in the approach. The working group the Minister of State references has one fatal flaw: it includes in its terms of reference the ceasing of the use of horticultural peat.

The mushroom industry has been looking at alternatives for the past ten years. The Department keeps telling it there are alternatives. There are not. This is a fundamentally difficult point and the nub of it is that people are not going to eat less mushrooms. The only question will be where and how the mushrooms are produced. One of two things will happen if we ban the use of horticultural peat. Either the peat will be imported - in fact, there is already talk of it being imported from eastern Europe - or the jobs and economic importance of these companies, particularly, the mushroom companies, will be exported. They will go elsewhere. Which course is the Government planning to take? Will it take a third course and actually work with the industry to save it?

Senator Pippa Hackett:

I recognise the huge importance of the mushroom industry here and peat is used as a casing material as part of that. There are efforts within the mushroom industry and with my Department looking at alternatives. It is probably early days in that but two funding research projects are currently commissioned by Ireland's mushroom producer organisation, Commercial Mushroom Producers, CMP, in conjunction with my Department examining the potential scope to, in one instance, recycle mushroom compost as a possible growing substrate within the horticulture sector and a second option looking at the scope to reduce the levels of peat required within mushroom production itself.

As the Deputy said, in the absence of peat from Irish sources, the industry would have to import either from Northern Ireland, Scotland or the Baltic region at considerable cost. I acknowledge that. It is also worth evaluating the amount we actually export from what we extract and I believe there is potential there to retain more for our own domestic use rather than export.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I fully agree on that last point and there are areas to work on there. What we need, however, is an open mind. I have put this to three different Ministers, namely, Deputies Noonan and Ryan and Senator Hackett. They all have one thing in common, that is, a party that is not very much trusted by the people involved in this or many other sectors in the community I come from.

It is important we put this in context because people, obviously, are conscious that we need to protect our peatlands. To give an example, in 1995 Bord na Mona harvested 8 million tonnes of peat in one year for power stations alone. That amount of peat would keep the Irish horticultural industry going for 200 years. We are, therefore, talking about a relatively small amount of peat extraction for an important part of our domestic rural economies. That is why we need to have an open mind. I fear there are closed minds within the Department. There is constant talk about alternatives that have not been presented yet and it makes me fearful for the future. I hope the Minister of State can put minds at ease.

Senator Pippa Hackett:

Ultimately, we will get to a situation where we will not have peat. Whether we extract it all and there is none left, we will end up at a situation where we do not have peat for every use we want it for. We are exploring the alternatives which potentially utilise spent peat. It is circular in nature in an economy sense. There are other possibilities in terms of coir, wood fibre or biochar so the possibilities are great. Perhaps there will be some further investment in that area. We do not, however, have an infinite supply of peat. The wider horticulture sector will have to move away from it. I appreciate the particular difficulty with the mushroom sector. Certainly, I enjoy my mushrooms as much as anyone else and I want to buy Irish mushrooms and will endeavour to make sure we can continue to produce and grow them here.