A parliamentary debate in the Irish Seanad at the end of last month elucidated the problem facing the Irish Mushroom industry with respect to the harvesting of peat in the country.
One Senator from Monaghan pointed out the illogicality of the industry having to import peat from abroad for growing purposes and the ecological footprint that would have.
Senator Robbie Gallagher said: “The Minister needs to introduce measures to ensure the resumption of harvesting of horticultural peat for the mushroom industry to avoid a shortage this year, as well as measure to support and incentivise the use of spent mushroom compost.” “If peat is not available here in Ireland, the mushroom industry will actually be forced to import peat from the Baltic states or northern Europe at a huge cost, both in financial terms to the industry itself but also in relation to the higher carbon footprint of transporting that peat into the country. “The industry is heavily reliant on high grade horticultural peat and there is currently no viable alternative to horticultural peat,” he said.
In response Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture Senator Pippa Hackett said : “It is important to point out at the out-set that there is not a ban on harvesting peat, it is rather the requirement for compliance with the regulatory framework for the extraction which requires both planning and integrated pollution control [IPC] licensing depending on the circumstance.”
