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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)

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. John Neenan: The specialist was to deal with volumes of peat but they went on then to send out a questionnaire to deal with areas of boglands, who owned them, whether they have right-of-ways or are adjoining a roadway. Those questions had nothing to do with the terms of reference and unfortunately there was a very poor response. They sent it to me and after speaking to me they sent it...

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)

...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)

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)

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)

...Government's only support for us so far has come via the producer organisation, PO, scheme, which is money from Europe. We need help, but before we even have those conversations, we must have the peat we need in the short-to-medium term. Without that, we will not need any further investment because there will be nothing left in which to invest. The businesses will be gone and the jobs...

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

Joe Flaherty: ..., but we will lay the blame on all three of them for the moment. I think the key point to take away from what the witnesses have told us is that we have now become reliant on an imported peat that is clearly of inferior quality. This committee has heard many times about the heavy price we are paying now for ash dieback as a result of an import. There is nothing to say that we are not...

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. James Spillane: Two plants have closed already. Costs are rising. The cost of importing is driving up the cost of the final product. The alternatives are more expensive than peat used to be. Consequently, we are going to have a problem with demand and, therefore, undoubtedly fewer plants will be required in the future. Not only that, we are losing people daily. We are bleeding...

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

Victor Boyhan: ..., they talk about an amazing commitment to the horticultural sector and to growing the sector. We will have a major Food Wise conference in Dublin Castle tomorrow, yet we have a problem with peat here this evening. They will all be blabbering down in Dublin Castle and they will be high and mighty while talking about their Food Wise strategy going forward and the great potential of...

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

...plants have closed in addition to another two last year. While a lot of that has to do with input costs increases, these guys would keep going if they had some certainty over their future. Harte Peat especially is such a big supplier to our industry. There is such uncertainty and we are putting programmes of investment forward, like we are doing this week for the years 2023 to 2030....

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

Mr. Kieran Dunne: I have a question for all of the Deputies, including the Chair. How can the Irish Government and specifically the green tail, as was mentioned earlier on, justify importation of peat on environmental economic and ethical grounds? Time is running out for all our industries, as has been stated throughout the evening. What does the committee recommend as the next steps for...

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)

Michael Fitzmaurice: No one can justify peat coming from another country. That is the first thing. The fact of the matter is that horticulture, the mushroom industry and domestic turf cutting do not use even 1% of the bogs of Ireland. People go on about re-wetting and sequestering carbon but it would take approximately 50 years to do Bord na Móna's holdings and others that are not being used. We are not...

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...

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

Danny Healy-Rae: ...shame and disgrace to think that these fellows - and I have no problem in naming the Minister and his Green Party - who are purporting to advocate green policies and whatever else are happy to buy peat in other parts of Europe and bring it into the country on boats, from which smoke is whistling into the clouds. The peat is then offloaded with more machines, transferred to 200 lorries and...