Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ambassador to the Chamber and commend Poland on its neighbourly and humanitarian support for the people of Ukraine.

I ask for a debate on the smoky coal ban and its implications for turf cutting. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, has quite rightly looked at the ban on smoky coal which is part of the programme for Government and has been supported by previous Ministers. I support that ban. The concern that has been expressed over the past number of weeks relates to the knock-on impact on the cutting, burning and distribution of turf in certain parts of the country. Clearly, this was communicated badly. In fact, it was not communicated at all. Instead, a reply was given to a parliamentary question that gave a date of 1 September 2022 and referred to the banning, sale and distribution of turf without any caveats or information being provided. That scared and upset people.

I understand that the Minister is not targeting turf. Rather, he is targeting smoky coal and this is an associated fallout. I appreciate and acknowledge that. Previous Ministers have attempted to do this and all have hit the same stumbling blocks. Clearly, there needs to be a solution. However, the solution cannot be an arbitrary ban from 1 September this year. Such a ban would target many elderly and low-income households in certain communities. We are having debates about whether a community comprises 500 people or more, how we define that and whether the regulations should refer to a town, village, centre or hinterland. There is a lot of concern out there. While we have had good engagement with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, in meetings of the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil parliamentary parties, we need to bring this important matter to the Chamber for a fuller debate.