Ireland has exported almost 19,000t of peat and peat-mixed products to Japan since 2011, figures provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine show.
There was a very considerable increase in exports to the Asian country in the 12-year period from 2011 to 2022 (inclusive).
In 2011, the figure was only 513t. By 2022 (up to November) this figure had increased to 3,116t, an increase of over 500% since since 2011.
The total tonnage of exports to Japan since and including 2011, up to and including November just gone, is 18,715t.
These figures were released yesterday (Wednesday, January 18) by Minister Charlie McConalogue in response to a parliamentary question from Laois-Offaly TD Carol Nolan.
The data, which comes from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), refers to peat, including peat litter, whether or not they come together.
This description includes all types of peat and does not differentiate between horticultural use and heating use. It also includes briquettes.
Responding to these figures, Nolan said: “While [these figures] do not provide a specific breakdown of how many tonnes of each peat or peat-mixed product are exported, they categorically do reflect the massive levels of demand that still exist in whatever form it finally takes.”
According to the independent TD, the government here is “persisting in its attempts to fundamentally undermine the viability of the sector by creating such a negative narrative around it”.
She added: “This is to say nothing of the massive double-standard at play.
“On the one hand we have a government that is willing and eager to demonise an entire indiginous sector while introducing enforcement and compliance orders to limit the use of peat, while on the other hand we have an export sector that from January to November of 2022 sent 3,116t to the Japanese economy.
“Irish peat and peat-mixed products have continued to attract massive levels of international demand, as the 500% increase to Japan from 2011 to 2022 demonstrates.
“It would appear then that everyone loves Irish peat with the exception of our own government, [which is] hell-bent on regulating it out of existence,” the TD added.