Tipperary Sinn Féin TD Martin Browne this week raised the unresolved issue of peat supplies for the horticultural sector.
Speaking in the Dáil he called on the Minister for Agriculture to outline the measures that have been taken to provide the necessary supplies of horticultural peat to the sector and what advances have been made in the development of viable alternatives.
Deputy Browne asked if the recommendation of developing Primary Legislation to resolve the dual issues of planning and harvesting of peat for horticultural purposes had been investigated.
Minister Hackett could only say the issue of peat supply ‘is one of the aspects the working paper will examine in terms of available supply to the horticulture sector’.
But Browne now says the needs of the sector cannot be allowed to fall off the agenda.
