The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will hold two separate meetings today (Tuesday, July 6).

The committee will resume its discussion this morning at 9:30a.m on the impact of peat shortages on the horticulture industry with Growing Media Ireland (GMI) and, in its second meeting at 3:30a.m, will engage with and discuss the work of the Beef Taskforce.

Impact of peat shortages

Speaking in advance of the meetings, committee chair Jackie Cahill said that the committee wants to hear from GMI on the impact the peat shortages will have on members’ “livelihoods and businesses, and whether the government plans and work of the Just Transition Commissioner will help keep these businesses viable in the future”.

“This is an urgent issue and the sector needs clarity from the working group on peat moss in the horticultural industry,” deputy Cahill said.

“Growing Media Ireland represents most horticultural peat producers in Ireland, large and small [excluding Bord na Móna]. Its members harvest horticultural peat for both professional horticulture and the retail market.

“Members harvest horticultural peat on non-designated bogs and employ around 6,600 direct and 11,000 indirect employees in the Irish horticultural sector.”

Crisis in the beef industry

The Beef Market Taskforce was established by former Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed on foot of the Irish Beef Sector Agreement in 2019.

The Beef Taskforce remit is to “monitor the implementation of the actions arising from the agreement reached and provide for a robust implementation structure for commitments entered into in the agreement, with timelines and stakeholder engagement”.

“The Beef Taskforce was established to address the crisis in the beef industry. One of the key areas that stakeholders wanted addressed was transparency on pricing,” deputy Cahill continued.

“We have seen instances over the last few months of drops in prices by meat processors while market indicators forecasted upward trends. We need clarity on this issue, and we need to have the debate now.

“The Beef Taskforce was established to provide transparency. The committee needs to see this transparency along with farmers, producers and the wider beef industry.

“We look forward to having this conversation with the taskforce.”

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

The meetings can be viewed in Committee Room 1 and 3 on the Oireachtas website.