Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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60. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if matters raised in correspondence (details supplied) will be examined. [10117/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Bord Na Móna’s last full peat harvest took place in 2018, followed by a partial harvest in 2019 and a full suspension of harvesting operations in 2020. Bord Na Móna’s decision to cease peat harvesting in January 2021 is a commercial and operational matter for the board and management of the company, and not one in which I as Minister have any function.

The approval of the Bord na Móna Enhanced Decommissioning, Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme on 24 November 2020 reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to a just transition for workers in the Midlands. The scheme will, over time, employ 307 people, some of whom will be engaged on a seasonal basis, with 210 full time equivalents engaged over the delivery period. The scheme encompasses 33,000 hectares of Bord na Móna peatlands previously harvested for peat extraction for electricity generation. The scheme will protect the storage of 100 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. It is also estimated that over the period 2020 to 2050, 3.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided.

My Department has no direct role in relation to the horticulture sector, including the sourcing of peat or peat products for the sector. However, a working group is being established by the Minister of State for Heritage and Local Government Reform in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to examine the future role of peat and the use of peat alternatives in the horticulture sector.