Following the appearance yesterday (Tuesday, July 20) of officials from various departments before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, criticism of the government over the horticulture sector issue is continuing.
Yesterday’s meeting saw the attendance of officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications; and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The committee discussed the shortage of peat in the horticulture sector. However, the department put forward “no workable solutions” during the meeting, according to the Irish Farmers’ Associations (IFA).
“The three ministers need to get together and sort this out. We need political leadership here.
“We are sick of everyone blaming everyone while small growers and substantial businesses who provide a lot of employment are being put out of business by our government. It’s a total travesty,” said IFA president Tim Cullinan.
He claimed: “The Irish government is destroying the horticulture sector it so lauded in its Programme for Government.”
Cullinan asserted that the ministers and ministers of state that oversee peat, bogs and the horticulture sector “do not appreciate the catastrophic situation facing the horticulture industry due to prohibition on peat harvesting”.
Last week, Minister of State for land use and biodiversity Pippa Hackett released a statement saying that a stock of peat that would alleviate the immediate issue “may have been secured”.
“The industry would like clarity on this peat stock as it was not clarified during the committee meeting. If it is stockpiled peat, it will not be suitable for casing for the mushroom industry as the mushroom industry requires fresh peat as a component of casing,” the IFA president highlighted.
“This is not a solution of any duration. Without an immediate resumption of peat harvesting, the sector will not have peat available for next season,” he added.
“Without immediate government intervention to allow the harvesting of peat, the Irish horticultural sector faces wipeout. The ministers in charge here have to step in to save the sector. The situation is now beyond serious,” Cullinan warned.