Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Senator Pippa Hackett, will today (Wednesday, November 9) discuss the impact of peat shortages on the Irish horticulture industry.
The minister is due to address members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine about the ongoing issue at 1:30p.m.
Hackett, who has responsibility for land use and biodiversity, previously expressed concern for growers in the horticulture sector due to peat shortages, saying she wanted to “explore all options”.
However, the minister argued that, notwithstanding this, peat extraction “must stop”.
Last month, groups representing the Irish horticulture sector presented the committee with recommendations to ensure sufficient supply of Irish horticultural peat.
They said that peatlands under 30ha should be treated as an individual bog, while on bigger sites a sub-30ha area should be permitted for harvesting horticultural peat, provided the remainder is set aside for restoration.
The groups estimated that an area of 1,500ha, less than 0.1% of Irish peatlands, is required to provide the sector with domestic supplies during the transition to peat-free alternatives.
Speaking ahead of today’s meeting chair of the Oireachtas committee , Deputy Jackie Cahill said:
“The committee met with representatives of the horticulture industry last month and heard their serious concerns on how the shortage of peat was affecting the sector, and in particular Irish mushroom and soft fruits production.
“The committee welcomes this opportunity to meet with Minister Hackett and hear the department’s perspective on this important matter,” he said.
Following a High Court ruling in 2019, harvesting horticultural peat from bogs greater than 30ha requires a complex, multi-stage licensing and planning regime, unlike the single-stage systems in EU states.
As a result, horticultural peat harvesting has all but ceased with growers now dependent on imported peat.
The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.