Independent TD for Laois-Offaly, Deputy Carol Nolan has said it is time for Sinn Féin to “get off the fence” regarding the long-term future of turf in Ireland.
Sinn Féin called on the government to scrap plans to ban the sale of turf from September 2022, according to Deputy Nolan.
Speaking ahead of a Dáil debate on the party’s Private Members Motion dealing with the rising cost of home-heating fuels, Deputy Nolan described Sinn Féin’s call as “insufficient, potentially misleading and intentionally vague”.
She criticised Sinn Féin’s comments that the proposed ban on the sale of turf was the “wrong move at the wrong time” as, she said, “it will always be the wrong time and the wrong move”.
Sinn Féin’s call for the government to support people in transitioning away from turf use, Deputy Nolan said, “completely and utterly misses the point”.
“Many families who now use turf do not want to ‘transition’ away from its use. It is their preferred form of heating for both practical and cultural reasons, and that is a position that needs permanent protection.
“There is a very clear awareness on the ground that Sinn Féin, as the main opposition party, are trying to have their cake and eat it with respect to its policy on turf cutting and turf use,” Deputy Nolan added.
The independent TD for Laois-Offaly submitted an amendment to Sinn Féin’s motion, supported by her Rural Independent Group colleagues.
Deputy Nolan’s amendment is calling on the government to provide an explicit commitment that the sale, marketing and distribution of turf (either at a voluntary or commercial level) will be permitted on a permanent basis.
The amendment also seeks to consider turf cutting and its use as a protected cultural practice under such instruments as the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, also known as the Faro Convention.
Deputy Nolan said that the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, and the Green Party would effectively regulate turf use off existence if they could.
Sinn Féin just want to do it over a longer period of time, according to Deputy Nolan who said that neither of those positions is acceptable to her or her Rural Independent Group colleagues.