Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1297. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to detail the amount of foreign peat-based products been sold in Ireland in each of the past five years. [2155/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are no records detailing the amount of foreign peat-based products that have been sold in Ireland in each of the last five years. The only data that is available is from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on imported peat and peat products.

Import figures from the CSO refer to - Peat, including peat litter, whether or not agglomerated. This description includes all types of peat and does not differentiate between peat used for horticulture or that used for heating. This description also includes briquettes. Peat agglomerates also includes peat substrates where peat is mixed with other materials such as fertilizer, perlite, sand, lime, wood fibre, bark. By way of example a peat reduced substrate mix of 30% Wood Fibre, 30% Bark and 40% Peat is still classed under the CN code 27030000.

From a horticulture perspective it would not be possible to extrapolate the amount of foreign peat-based products sold in Ireland as varying amounts could be used in different blends and different products.