Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a matter pertaining to Bord na Móna and the overuse of bogs in Ireland. Some 4 million tonnes of peat are being stripped from Irish bogs yearly by Bord na Móna. Only 60 million tonnes of peat are left in our large bogs, which are controlled by Bord na Móna. At the current rate of extraction, which has been capped by the EU in recent years, we have 15 years left before the bogs as we know them will be gone and the Irish landscape will be changed.

I was contacted recently by a number of miscanthus growers who had been contracted by Bord na Móna. This grass was being grown as part of a dual fuelling system with peat over the past ten years but, overnight, growers got notice that this grass would no longer be burned and would no longer be needed.At the time, Bord na Móna with great fanfare encouraged people to embrace renewable energy. The company said the grass would grow every year and this was the best thing since the sliced pan. It is incredible that the company could leave them high and dry. They were given a spurious excuse about chlorine levels. This was not covered by an EU regulation and, therefore, it was a way out.

Bord na Móna is importing palm kernel shells. They are not certified and there has not been a full explanation about this product. It is imported from Indonesia. The shells come from rainforests that have been cut down and harvested. The company cannot sit idly, do what it wants, and deal with whom it wants. It is bad enough to pillage our own country without any regulation but importing such products from another country is unacceptable. Bord na Móna is on the loose. I second amendment No. 2 to the Order of Business in the name of Senator Daly.