Results 1-20 of 65 for peat speaker:Martin Browne

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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Consolidation in Horticultural Grower Numbers: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Martin Browne: Most of my other questions have been asked, so I will ask about peat availability. It is stupid and crazy that we are importing peat from eastern Europe when we have bogs all over this country. Is there any indication of what progress is being made? We hear about alternative peat products. We have all spoken to horticulturists, garden growers and so forth. They are all trying their own...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Consolidation in Horticultural Grower Numbers: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Martin Browne: Has the IFA confidence that the alternative, when it comes on board, will be as good as the natural peat we have stopped harvesting? Will it be as good as or better than what is being imported?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Strategic Direction of Bord Bia: Discussion (22 Mar 2023)

Martin Browne: ...been a decrease by 23%. Is that because the sector is producing less or is there less demand for the product.? If it is, what is Bord Bia doing to strengthen the demand, giving that horticultural peat is a major issue throughout Europe? There is a risk, which has been brought up here on several occasions, that we may lose some of our producers here to Europe. It would be a massive loss...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticulture Sector (8 Dec 2022)

Martin Browne: 179. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to provide adequate supplies of peat to the horticultural industry following the publication of numerous reports on the matter. [61173/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2022)

Martin Browne: ...places are really struggling. The only recommendation that even provides a glimmer of hope is the question on the current condition of bogs suggesting that rewetting be paused. The suitability of peat from the quarry bog is also questioned. Mr. Padraig O'Leary from Walsh Mushrooms from my county - the Chairman will know it - said that he still does not see that as a short-term solution....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2022)

Martin Browne: I was talking about Mr. O'Leary from Walsh Mushrooms in Golden in Tipperary, where myself and the Chairman are from. He said he does not see a short-term solution in sight. He said diluting peat is driving up costs by 40% to 50%. He also suggested that as you narrow the providers of peat, the prices are going to increase. Does Mr. Boland have any opinion on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2022)

Martin Browne: The report also recommends a number of options to secure supply of horticultural peat. However there was no considered role for the private sector in the supply of horticultural peat. Given the past experience these people have had and the companies operating in Ireland, why does the report more or less ignore that sector and does that not undermine the report itself when such a large-scale...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Nov 2022)

Martin Browne: ...further down the line are we from the last time the Minister of State was at this committee? One of the things the Minister of State referred to the last time was this free for all extraction of peat. That kind of language is completely misrepresenting what this committee has agreed on. The sector is less than 1% of the amount of what is needed. This throwing out this free for all...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Horticulture Sector (25 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: 72. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his proposals to ensure an adequate supply of horticultural peat to the mushroom sector, with reference to the recent report on the horticultural sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53173/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Horticulture Sector (25 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: ...own frustration as well as that of people in the mushroom industry, producers and the wider horticulture industry at what they see as the inaction of three Departments on the issue of horticultural peat. There seems to be a continued failure to even acknowledge some of the recommendations within numerous reports or to ensure access to the minimum amount, 1%, while alternatives are being...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Horticulture Sector (25 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: ...risk. There just does not seem to be any rush with the Government. The Minister of State can quote the KPMG report but the report said that in the short term there is still need for domestic peat until alternatives are available. There is another report just sitting on a desk that is no good for anything. At the same time, we have a Green Party in government that is allowing 200...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Horticulture Sector (25 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: The Minister of State can give me all the figures she likes. We have had committee meeting after committee meeting with the sector and they are telling us they are in trouble for lack of peat here. The Minister of State talked about the sub-30 ha bogs. There has been no action there, according to the stakeholders. What can the Department do? Without the co-operation of the three...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: ...are refusing to meet. Mr. Neenan said the Government has been inactive on this issue since January. We have put in a number of questions to the Minister in previous months and we have been repeatedly told about this €1.6 million in funding for the Beyond Peat project and developing alternatives. From talking to the industry there are no alternatives there or we are way behind. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: ..., and I am sure other members have come across the same, is a particular comment he made at the end of one of the replies he gave me on the issue of alternatives for horticulture. He said: The peat supply needs of the horticulture sector for the coming period will be met through existing stockpiles of peat, ongoing supply from Northern Ireland for the mushroom industry and an element of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: .... The proposed timeframe is not viable. Regarding mushrooms, I visited Walsh Mushrooms in Golden, which the Chairman will know. As soon as I walked into the place, the complex nature of the peat being used there was apparent. The company regulates water retention, drainage, the peat's chemical composition, etc. It is more than understandable that more time is needed to develop...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: EU Nature Restoration Target: COPA-COGECA (5 Oct 2022)

Martin Browne: On the issue of peat, what does restoring 70% mean? Is it peatland that has been drained or is it peatland where cattle have been grazing? That needs to be defined for us. Progress has been made with Bord na Móna and so on. Have exact parameters been defined in that regard?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Horticulture Sector (15 Jun 2022)

Martin Browne: I am raising this issue for a number of reasons. The first is the fact that workers on the ground within our horticultural sector feel as though decisions on access to horticultural peat have been seen as a done deal. It is felt as though now that the furore over the issue has abated, the Government feels as though it is business as usual and the sector has been left to pick up the pieces...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Horticulture Sector (15 Jun 2022)

Martin Browne: ...in the sector. If the Government would only listen to the sector, it would realise that it is putting those working in the sector at risk of losing their jobs because of the price of importing peat from 3,000 miles away. As a member of the Green Party, I do not know how the Minister of State and her party can stand over the practice of importing peat from 3,000 miles away. Hundreds of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)

Martin Browne: ...taking responsibility for the measures to address climate change as well. While we have the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications telling us that we cannot sell some of the sod peat used to heat homes, at the same time, we hear of the failure over the past six years to plant 21,500 ha, meaning that we have failed to take 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Afforestation and the Forestry Sector: Discussion (13 Apr 2022)

Martin Browne: ...of State not see the negative messages that are going out? She did not even answer me about the 21,500 ha taking 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide out, while at the same time, there is the peat end of it. Some 21,500 ha being planted is down to a Department of this Government. It has been the problem. However, at the same time, this same Government is bringing in taxes on ordinary...