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

Mr. James Spillane: I will round off some of the points. To answer the Deputy's question, it is likely that Ireland will become a net importer of peat. If we have not already reached that point, we certainly will in the very near future. This is to support the mushroom industry, specialist growers and growers that cannot at this point grow without some peat. It is something of an...

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

...of CMP Co-operative Society Limited and the wider edible horticultural sector for the invitation to speak. I am CEO of CMP, which represents mushroom producer members. Currently, horticultural peat is a key input material for our industry, as the committee knows. I am joined by Mr. Mel O’Rourke, specialist adviser to CMP, who was interim CEO before my appointment. On behalf of...

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

Mr. John Neenan: On behalf of GMI, the representative group for most of the horticultural peat and growing media producers in Ireland and the wider horticultural sector, I thank the Chair and the members of the committee for the invitation to speak. On behalf of the horticultural sector, I express our gratitude to the committee for the interest it has taken in this issue and for again...

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

.... The total employment across the horticultural sector is approximately 17,000 people. It is sad to see an industry that employs so many people and is so valuable considering the volume of peat that is being used. The horticultural industry for amenity, soft root and vegetables uses 131,000 m3 of peat compared with the Netherlands, which uses in excess of 4 million m3 of peat which is...

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)

Mr. Mel O'Rourke: It should not be about importing peat. We have the best quality peat in the world in Ireland to do the job that we want done. All we need is for regulations to be put in place so that we can comply with them. When we retail mushrooms in the UK, retailers ask whether we are fully compliant. We have to show them that we are compliant with Bord Bia's requirements and so...

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

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have one question. Is it 15 ha at a certain height? I ask this because there will be white peat on top, then brown peat and finally black peat be reached. In some bogs, it could be 1 m down and in others it could be 2 m down. It works, however. What I am trying to put together is whether one bit will work for horticulture and the other bit will suit the mushroom growers?

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

Michael Collins: ...meaning. I will lay out all my questions because different witnesses may want to answer them. From what I can gather, there are major problems in the horticulture sector with dual media, the peat in the soil, this season. Even with 30% peat in growing media, growing of plants is very poor and the grower and consumer are getting much poorer products. It will put growers out of...

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

...the possibility of getting funding to do that. Bord na Móna got its €108 million. Certainly, it would be a condition that that would be done. That would ensure the provision of sufficient peat for the Irish horticultural market. I wish to put on record that GMI is fully committed to moving away from peat. We expect that certainly by 2030, and probably before that, the same...

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

Mr. Mel O'Rourke: Okay. The top part is what we would call white peat, but perhaps the Deputy might call it brown peat.

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)

Mr. Mel O'Rourke: The mushroom industry is a specialised one, as everyone here knows. We need deep-dug black peat that has not been allowed to dry out. This is one of the pillars of why the industry has been so successful. Regarding the number of hectares of peat that would support the Irish industry, we are probably only talking about a requirement for 15 ha per annum. There is-----

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

...2004. We have been making our own wood fibre on site since 2013. I acknowledge what Deputy Michael Collins said that there are challenges when using these alternative materials. That is why peat moss has been the material of choice since the 1960s. The qualities of peat moss are that it has very good water-holding capacity and nutrient buffering. When these alternatives are...

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

Michael Fitzmaurice: ...this investigative journalist telling us about everything that was exported. Did Growing Media Ireland write back to educate them on the different parts that make up this and that it is not all peat? I spoke to Mr. O'Rourke earlier on. It needs to be explained to the ordinary Joe Soap who does not understand the requirements of horticulture peat, bedding peat or peat for mushrooms, and...

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: Impact of Peat Shortages on the Horticulture Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

...that they just hope we will go away. I am a little surprised by this situation. We can at least get gas in the current energy crisis, but the price is sky high. If we have no horticultural peat in Ireland, we will not be able to import it from the Baltic states or Canada - first because of the price and, second, because it will be going east rather than to Ireland. We can get gas to...

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

Jackie Cahill: ...the only Government Deputy left in the session. This cannot be justified. There is no justification for it. Whatever way you look at it, whether it is upside-down or downside-up, the import of peat into this country is completely illogical. I think it was Ms McManus who said that if you put a credit scorecard on the emissions in importing peat, it has to do more damage to the...

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

Matt Carthy: ...and mushroom sectors have told this committee on six different occasions that they are facing an existential crisis. They have told us there is no credible current alternative to the use of peat in their sectors. It is important to note that this evidence has never been challenged in any of the deliberations the committee has had. Nobody has given oral or written evidence to this...

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

...m2 in some instances. If we bring this alternative in, we will be starting at 20 kg per m2 again. We will not be competitive in the UK market. We hope that retailers will give us a new price for peat-free mushrooms but we all know that this will only hold for so long before they will want the same peat-free mushroom for a conventional price. It is not that using the alternative will...

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

Victor Boyhan: ...I also worked in the tomato and soft-fruit sectors. Therefore, I am fully aware of and knowledgeable about the significance and importance of growing media. I am particularly knowledgeable about peat. There is a common thread in all the presentations today, which is not a surprise. There is a clear, strong message. The real takeaway from what has been said, from what I know myself and...