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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

...the head of horticulture and plant health. I thank the Senator for his questions and I take many of his points on board in terms of the importance of the sector. There is a difference between the peat that is used in mushrooms, black peat, as opposed to that which is used in the amenities sector, brown peat, which is harvested in a different way, comes from different bogs and is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

...decision. Bord na Móna has been a very active member of the working group Mr. Lucas talked about and has done quite a lot to support the horticulture sector. Since 2019, Bord na Móna has not harvested any peat. It cannot harvest peat without further regularisation. Since the judgment, Bord na Móna has actively engaged with all customers of professional grade horticulture...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Michael Collins: ...; the nurseries are severely affected on the ground. I only have a few questions. Many of those I was going to ask have already been dealt with. My argument is that there was a withdrawal from peat without a plan being in place. The nurseries have been left flat-footed. They were given no time to adjust. When other businesses are affected, there is some kind of compensation package...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Mr. Nugent mentioned earlier that part of the short-term solution will likely involve importation of peat. Does he accept in the first instance that provides no environmental benefit? As far as mother earth is concerned, whether the peat is extracted in Roscommon or Leitrim or in The Netherlands or Lithuania makes little difference.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome our guests here today. We have had a lot of debate and discussion on the production of milled peat at this stage. We need to talk about solutions. As someone who has studied horticulture and who has worked in the horticultural sector most of my working life, I acknowledge that soft fruit production, forestry propagation and even nursery stock can manage without the same amount of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Mr. Leslie Carberry: No. An Bord Pleanála ruled that planning permission was required in respect of peat extraction on specific sites. That was challenged through the courts up to 2018. In December 2018, as I understand it, that legal challenge was exhausted and at that point it was the law of the land that peat extraction over 30 ha would require substitute consent if the necessary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: ...on whether a bog is restorable or not, regardless of whether it is designated. A lot of those bogs are degraded, and they will never be restorable. We were better off getting a bit of milled peat off them and making sure that we saved the jobs in those areas and introducing whatever legislation was required to make sure of that rather than seeing boats coming in to ports in this country...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Martin Browne: ...there is much of a drive going on between the different Departments. I have some comments and questions. A major factor in this whole mess is timing. The Department has admitted that finding peat-free growing media alternatives is a challenge and that wood production is a particular challenge. The future of the sector is in the hands of the three Departments represented here today,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Mr. Barry Delany: I can take the first question on the stock of peat. That matter was alluded to at the committee's meeting on the 6 July 2021 and in our engagements with the industry. We had understood that there were some indications of availability of peat stocks on hand but these were for the amenity side, not for mushrooms. Again, given that is a commercial matter, as Mr. Nugent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Mr. Brian Lucas: As I said, under the planning development regulations, peat extraction in a new or extended area of 10 ha or more where the drainage of the bogland commenced prior to 21 January 2002 is exempted development. The best thing to do is to give a practical example. If I wish to engage in peat extraction and if I have a site which I think fits into the exempted development...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

...proposed supplemental measures that will go before the Ministers very soon, but they are focused on forensically looking at the potential for what would have been regarded as sub-optimal grades of peat in the past to see if they can be mixed or blended to tide us over for a further period. We are also looking at the existing expertise within various organisations around using their supply...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Mr. Brian Lucas: By way of background, as I have said already, the planning and development regulations as regards exempt development and peat extraction have been in place since 2001. The provisions in the Planning and Development Act 2000 as regards environmental impact assessments and appropriate assessments have been in place since 2011. The regulations have been in place since 2001...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Mr. Leslie Carberry: It was brought forward by the two Departments. The two regulations have to work in conjunction. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage exempted peat extraction from the planning system and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications said it would be regulated exclusively through planning. That was struck down by the High Court on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Can I be honest with Mr. Nugent? I am not into milling peat but I know bogs better than anyone because I was reared in the middle of one. If any person with 80, 100 or 200 acres goes through the screening-out, EIA and appropriate assessment processes that apply to works over the 30 ha threshold, the council will be afraid to give him or her planning permission. That is the reality. Our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Brian Leddin: I thank the Chairman and welcome our guests. At the outset, I will repeat the point I have made a number of times that I believe it is remiss that we do not allow our guests to read their statements into the record. We are unique among committees. All committees are operating under the same Covid regime with the two-hour limit but guests generally are allowed to read their statements into...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

...from the three Departments here today, as well as industry and environmental non-governmental organisations. Its remit was to address the issues identified during the review of the use of peat moss in the horticultural industry. It was appropriate, in the circumstances in which the horticultural industry found itself, that it consider that as well. Its meetings in March and April were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Mr. Brian Lucas: Yes, it is clear there will not be an alternative to peat in place by September of this year. In the working group, however, the representatives from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage outlined the current legislative provisions. I have gone through those already and Mr. Nugent has also spoken about them. We made it clear what those provisions are at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Mr. Philip Nugent: As I said, Bord na Móna was affected in the same way as every other operator. It took the decision in 2020 to suspend its peat extraction operation and, earlier this year, to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticultural Industry: Discussion (20 Jul 2021)

Matt Carthy: Okay. Did peat extraction during that period operate with a licence?