Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1164. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the difficulty beef farmers currently face in securing peat for cattle bedding; his efforts to resolve this difficulty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1535/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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While peat is used for a range of purposes in the agricultural and horticultural sectors, my Department is not involved in the regulation of it's extraction. This is a planning process under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and an Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) license process, under the remit of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

Specifically, in relation to livestock bedding materials, I understand that while straw volumes harvested in 2020 were lower than in some years, there was, nonetheless, a significant carryover of material from harvest 2019. There is currently no indication of a shortage of straw for bedding.

I am of course aware that some livestock farmers often use composite bedding materials that incorporated peat. However, sustainable alternatives to peat such as sawdust are increasingly being used.