Seanad debates

Wednesday, 13 October 2021

10:30 am

Photo of Lynn BoylanLynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the situation with horticultural peat for some businesses has reached a critical point. I accept that it must be an extremely stressful time for those business owners and their employees. I also acknowledge, as have others, the importance of the agrifood industry to Ireland's economy. That said, it is essential that we understand how we have reached the situation we are in today to ensure we learn from it and do not repeat the mistakes of the past. For years, we have known that we have to stop harvesting peat.

Harvested peat, whether it is burned or milled for horticultural use, adds to carbon emissions and destroys our essential carbon sinks. We have all known this for decades. Peat is also one of our most important habitats for biodiversity, providing vital sanctuary for wildlife and an amenity for rural communities and tourists. Aside from all of those reasons for ending peat extraction, even the climate deniers of this world have to accept that peat is a finite resource. Therefore, it needs to be sustainably managed. Research has to be invested in developing a viable and sustainable long-term alternative for the horticulture industry.

I am fully aware and appreciate that the horticultural peat industry has been working very hard to try to reduce the amount of peat it uses, and that there are issues currently around the nutrient content, moisture retention and lack of consistency and variability in the supply of the alternative mediums. I look forward to reading the overdue report on this issue commissioned by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. I hope it will shed some light and give hope on what alternatives are available and what level of research and investment is required to develop a fully sustainable and long-term alternative. Ireland, with political will and investment, has a unique opportunity to be a leader in research into viable alternatives for the horticulture industry, not only in Ireland but throughout the European Union. Let us learn from the Danes. Not only did Denmark develop wind energy but it also manufactured wind turbines and created industry. Ireland can do the same for alternative horticultural mediums.

If we are to allow the harvesting of peat for horticultural use as a short-term emergency measure, we must be absolutely certain that what we are allowing it to be used for is the bare minimum. There is no justification for peat being milled and sold for recreational hobby gardeners like me. I do not need it. We can use the alternatives that are available. We do not rely on the crops we grow for income. There are also some horticultural plants that do not require peat sources. The Royal Horticultural Society has proved that in its ornamental gardens where it has almost completely eliminated the use of peat.

We also need to take on board the findings of the courts regarding the extraction of peat in the past. It was illegal extraction. We cannot allow a situation like that to happen again. The forthcoming legislation on substitute consent has to be robust and ensure that all extraction processes, including peat and quarrying, are environmentally sound. It is deeply disappointing that this week, an Oireachtas committee voted against Sinn Féin's proposal to extend pre-legislative scrutiny to hear the views of An Taisce, the environmental pillar and environmental law experts on substitute consent.

We seem to think in this country that if we pretend environmental protections do not exist, we can somehow stop the legal challenges. That is a nonsense. Have we learned nothing from the forestry debacle, when we were in the same situation one year ago when people's jobs were on the line because we failed to put in place a robust system? Have we not learned from the millions of euro in fines Ireland accrues daily as a result of the Derrybrien case? We have to stop trying to get around environmental legislation and our legal obligations. We must stop ignoring the Aarhus Convention and develop the legal framework that ensures we can protect our habitats, climate targets and business. Of course, we must have business but we cannot ignore our environmental obligations.

While I agree that we need a short-term emergency plan to support the essential horticultural sectors that currently do not have a viable alternative, we must stop the use of horticultural peat by those who have alternatives. I note that Britain is to ban the sale of peat to recreational gardeners from 2024.We must immediately invest in research on long-term sustainable alternatives. Such research should be done in a joined-up approach with the current circular economy and waste legislation that is going through pre-legislative scrutiny at the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action.

I note that it was the same in respect of forestry, in that nobody wants to see anybody lose their jobs. We must have just transition when it comes to climate action. However, previous Governments facilitated illegal extraction activities and failed to invest earlier in research and development of alternatives. We must protect the jobs of the 6,600 people who are directly employed in the horticultural sector and the 11,000 people who are employed in downstream activities. If we are now to facilitate the short-term extraction of peat and if we are to invest public money in research on alternatives, then I call on the horticultural industry to make sure that its representatives improve the working conditions for employees in return. I make that call because a 2018 Teagasc report found that the sector has difficulty in retaining staff due to low wages, poor working conditions and a lack of suitable accommodation. Another analysis of data collated by the Workplace Relations Commission shows that there was €185,000 in unpaid wages since 2017, which affected over 3,300 workers in the soft fruit and mushroom sectors. I hope that short-term measures and emergency support mechanisms are rightly put in place to protect the jobs in the horticultural sector and that as a quid pro quo,we will see improvements in working conditions for the mostly foreign seasonal workers who are employed in the sector.

Finally, I hope that everyone who has rightly pointed out the hypocrisy of importing Latvian peat will as vociferously point out the wrong, which is that up until recently we were a net exporter of peat. Such exports can no longer continue. We must have a sustainable and just transition when it comes to climate action.

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