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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: Bord na Móna traditionally harvested peat during the summer months, between May and September, because we needed the wind and the sun to dry the peat and reduce the moisture content. We would traditionally have stockpiled peat on the peatlands. The position on horticultural peat was slightly different in that what we harvested in a particular year was normally sold...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: The peat supplied to a subsidiary in the UK is retail-grade peat; it is not professional peat. The peat being supplied would not be suitable for the professional growers in Ireland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: Yes. There is a volume of professional horticultural peat, estimated to be around 2,000 tonnes, on the Prosperous bog. That will be supplied to ICL at the Coolnamona facility. Subject to quality assurance inspections by ICL, there may also be some additional professional peat available elsewhere. The professional grade peat is subject to high-quality parameters, but we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: As well as sourcing peat from Bord na Móna, ICL will seek to source peat from other peat producers in Ireland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: There may have been some supplies of retail peat that were mainly non-peat-based products, but there may have been a small percentage of peat in some retail products.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: No. The peat that is being supplied to the Kilberry facility is retail peat. It bagged peat that is being sold back into the hobby and garden sector. That is sold back to the Irish retail market.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Michael Collins: I am asking the status of getting Irish peat to Irish growers to allow realistic transition. There has been no transition here, as such. There might be possibilities if there was time given and the problem is there has not. What is the status of getting our peat to Irish growers to allow this realistic transition to non-peat crop growing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: Bord na Móna has a long association with professional growers in Ireland. To set out two key aspects, we bought professional grade horticultural peat and provided mixing plants so that we might manufacture ready-made compost to meet the needs of our customers. Given our long association, we are aware of the challenges posed to Irish growers. We have been looking to see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

...for the challenges and enabled us to make the necessary changes. This strategy involved: eliminating the dependence of Bord na Móna on high-carbon activities; increasing investment in renewable energy, recycling operations and peatlands restoration; and enabling new low-carbon business operations. The company’s journey to sustainability was significantly accelerated when in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

.... We entered into this arrangement with ICL because we want to provide a period of time to enable the Irish customers to transition. As I said previously, with the small amount of Irish Bord na Móna peat being made available, along with the facilities at Coolnamona and other ingredients that ICL will put into these growing media ready-made composts, there will be a product available...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Jackie Cahill: ...members of the committee and I have been lobbied strongly by members of the horticulture nursery industries who are extremely worried about their viability and the lack of available horticultural peat for 2022. Thankfully, we are now in the midst of very good Spring weather. Being able to harvest peat in this country for these native industries is essential. I attended a conference in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Michael Collins: ...that we grow ourselves and that we are then importing it says a lot about the way this country is going. Sadly, it is grinding our country to a halt in many ways. Are the reports that Irish peat was leaving Ireland true, and if so, was any of that peat Bord na Móna peat?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: No, the professional peat of 2,000 tonnes is not being moved to Athy. That, as I said, is earmarked for supply into the Coolnamona facility. The Kilberry facility manufactures products mainly for the Irish retail business, so there is peat of a non-professional grade being transported from our peatlands in Kildare to the Kilberry facility for supply into the Irish industry....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: The working group report indicated that Bord na Móna may have up to 2,000 tonnes of high-grade horticultural peat available. According to correspondence that we have received from Bord na Móna, there may be substantial amounts of other peat. Have the exact amounts been audited and determined yet?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Matt Carthy: ICL will take over the running of the Coolnamona plant and will have access to the 2,000 tonnes of high-grade horticultural peat. I presume it will also source peat from other sources.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: Bord na Móna ceased exporting peat almost a year ago. I do not know the exact date but it was probably in May or June last. We have not exported any bulk peat since then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does Bord na Móna have enough peat in store for briquettes up to 2024, which is the date mentioned by Mr. Breen? What is the total peat Bord na Móna has around the country, bad, good or indifferent, in cubes or in tonnage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: The volume of peat we have remaining on our peatlands at the moment is approximately 950,000 tonnes. We have peat available to meet the date we mentioned previously, in respect of home residential heating. We will continue to manufacture briquettes at Derrinlough briquette factory.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Mr. Ger Breen: It is not being offered. The professional growers require a particular grade of peat. It would be subject to quality checks. That peat we are supplying to the Kilberry facility would not be suitable to supply to the Irish professional growers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horticultural Peat Supply and Willow Scheme: Bord na Móna (23 Mar 2022)

Paul Daly: That is the case until Bord na Móna comes to the end of its peat resources. I am talking about additional peat.