Almost 393,000t of Irish peat were exported last year, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.
The 2022 figure (392,853t) is down by a third when compared to the 579,573t of peat exported in the previous year, which itself was a significant drop from the 919,371t exported in 2020.
The data shows that in 2016, just over one million tonnes of peat were exported from Ireland.
During the first two months of this year, 58,737t of peat were sent overseas.
Peat
Minister McConalogue outlined that 32,707t of peat were imported into the country in 2022, over 30,000t of which came from Northern Ireland.
Just over 1,000t were imported from the Netherlands, while a similar amount was also brought in from Germany. Smaller amounts of peat were imported from Britain (223t), Lithuania (211t) and Canada (5t).
In 2021, 46,363t of peat were imported, again the vast majority of which came from Northern Ireland (43,077).
During January and February of this year, 3,429t of peat were imported.
In response to parliamentary questions from Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín, the minister noted that the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) has no responsibility for, and does not monitor, peat production in Ireland.
McConalogue added that the data for the quantity of peat exported from Ireland was provided through the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The figures provided by the CSO include all types of peat and do not differentiate between peat used for horticulture and that used for heating.
The figures also includes briquettes and substrates where peat is mixed with other materials such as fertiliser, perlite, sand, lime, wood fibre and bark.
Aontú
Commenting on the peat export data, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said that the situation is “truly hard to comprehend”.
“We have a situation where the government – with the Greens representing the tail that is wagging the dog – clamping down hard and threatening farmers and small turf cutters in rural Ireland while all the while importing and exporting like there’s no tomorrow at a huge cost to the environment.
“It seems the government don’t want turf being cut or peat being harvested on this island, but they’ll give you the thumbs up if you own an acre of bog in Lithuania or Germany.
“It makes no sense from an environmental perspective, given the added emissions associated with transporting the peat into this country from afar,” he said.
Deputy Tóibín said that the small farmer and those who cut turf in rural areas to heat their homes “should be left well enough alone”.
“We need to support Irish farmers and family turf cutters. Trade with the north is natural and to be encouraged, but the tonnes of peat coming from overseas is deeply troubling and hypocritical,” he added.