A vote on the government amendment of a motion presented by Sinn Féin to stop the proposed ban on the sale of turf will take place in the Dáil today, according to Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture, Deputy Matt Carthy.
The passing of the amendment will allow the government to proceed with its plan to ban the sale of turf, according to the TD for Cavan-Monaghan.
The vote, which is scheduled to take place at 10.20p.m today (Wednesday, April 27), follows a Dáil debate yesterday on a motion presented by Sinn Féin on the rising cost of home-heating fuels.
Sinn Féin’s motion seeks to cancel an increase in carbon tax; temporarily remove the excise duty on home-heating oil; and to scrap plans to regulate the sale of turf.
Government countermotion
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath, said that no ban on the burning of peat is proposed but instead, as the government countermotion says, a regulatory provision will be made to prohibit the sale of sod peat in “larger agglomerations”.
Minister McGrath added that the government “fully recognises” the seriousness of the current inflation crisis in the fuel sector and the impact this is having on the broader society.
However, the minister said the causes of this situation are beyond the control of the government and therefore it is not possible to fully insulate all households from every price increase.
Global supply-chain disruption experienced in the energy market and the ongoing war in Ukraine are driving the current rise in prices and not the tax on energy products, according to the minister.
Turf cutting
The minister said he understood that regulations will be agreed by the government in the coming weeks, adding that they would ensure that while measures are introduced to enhance air quality, these will not impinge traditional practices associated with sod peat including the sharing of turf with family members and neighbours. He said:
“A balance must be struck between the need to reduce emissions and improve air quality on the one hand, while respecting [turf-cutting] traditions on the other.”
Speaking after the Dáil debate on the party’s motion, Deputy Carthy said that the government countermotion will “essentially delete” everything they have called for in their motion. He commented:
“It will be down to backbench [government] TDs to indicate whether what they have been saying for the past weeks in their constituencies is backed up by their actions tonight.”
“One way or another, this issue won’t go away,” Deputy Carthy said.