‘Clear policy needed for peat industry’ says Minister Burke

Almost 4,000 tonnes of peat in 200 lorry loads were shipped 3,000km from Latvia last month to the midlands, to be deposited mere metres from a bog that could have produced the same quantity. The associated carbon footprint and the effect on the Irish horticultural industry, which employs 17,000, have been acknowledged by Minister Peter Burke.

Addressing Seanad Éireann he stressed that in 2019, the horticulture industry was worth €477 million, farm gate value, making it the fourth highest sector in terms of gross agricultural commodity output value, higher than sheep or cereals.

Minster Burke has called for clear policy concerning the exemption of peat harvesting from the planning process to safeguard the horticultural industry and ensure EU standards are met.

Growing Media Ireland, which represents most horticultural peat and growing media producers, has welcomed Minister Burke’s commitment, the IFA horticultural growers protest outside Leinster House and the cross-party support in the Seanad for a fair and workable system to allow for the resumption of peat harvesting.

In a statement this week, they said that all sectors of the industry, including mushroom and small fruit and vegetable growers, are affected. The increased cost of importing peat will inevitably be passed on to consumers and the Irish industry will lose out to producers in the UK and the Netherlands.

With peat available to be harvested in close proximity to the processing facilities in Ireland, it makes no sense to continue importing peat at a heavy cost to producers and growers – and at a heavy cost environmentally, they argue.

They want a fair and workable licensing system to provide for the phasing out of horticultural peat harvesting over a transition period to 2030, allowing alternatives to be developed. Peat is essential to growers and if a fair system is not introduced before the end of the year, Ireland’s horticultural sector will loss out to competitors, they warn.

John Neenan, chairman of GMI, said: “The rest of the EU has taken a practical approach to phasing out peat use in horticulture. The situation in Ireland at present is we have to import peat – which causes greater environmental damage than sourcing it at home with a workable licensing system. We need at least two shipments of around 4,000 tonnes each month to meet growers’ needs.”

Minister Burke, as Minister of State with responsibility for planning, has outlined his frustration at the issue, and says government must find a solution to an intolerable situation. He said that colleagues in the Dept of Climate, Environment and Communications must put forward workable solutions for industry.

Speaking on behalf of the government in the Seanad, Minister Burke said he looked forward to the publication of a report by an Independent Working Group on Horticultural Peat due out this week. He emphasised that he had no objection in principle to exempting peat extraction from the planning process and he looked forward to assisting in whatever way he could in resolving this significant problem.