Environmental legislation a ‘stealth’ ban on production of peat, says midlands TD
Environmental legislation brought in last month is a “stealth” ban on domestic peat production independent Offaly TD, Carol Nolan, has claimed.
Deputy Nolan says The Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026, signed into law on March 12, is leaving Ireland’s horticulture sector and food producers dangerously exposed to imported supplies.
The government introduced the legislation to streamline EPA licensing, speed up processing times, and regulate lower-risk activities. It will address industrial licensing delays, introduces “exceptional circumstances” exemptions for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and amends litter pollution and circular economy legislation.
Deputy Nolan raised the issue in the Dáil during Leaders Questions. Following the reply, the independent TD expressed disquiet with the government position.
“While the government have already instituted a ban on the commercial sale, advertising and retail of turf, the taoiseach’s response confirmed the long-term policy direction for peat when he explicitly stated that the trajectory of travel has been trying to wean ourselves off commercial extraction of peat,” Deputy Nolan said.
The Offaly TD said Ireland imports thousands of tonnes of peat and briquettes each year while “banning Irish people from buying turf from their local shop”.
She referenced figures from Minister Charlie McConalogue indicating that 32,000 tonnes of peat were imported into the country in 2022, and over 30,000 tonnes of that came from Northern Ireland.
“So, we can ship in peat from the Baltic states and the counties around Belfast, but you can’t buy it from a shop in Banagher,” Deputy Nolan observed. “Instead, we criminalise the sale of our own domestic resource. This is economic madness.”
She indicated the importance of peat for Irish horticulture: “Growers, especially in the mushroom sector, will be forced to rely on imported peat that costs approximately double, with all the added transport emissions and supply-chain risks that brings.
“That does nothing for the environment, and it simply exports the problem abroad while undermining Irish food production and rural jobs.”
Deputy Nolan said she hopes to meet the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, to seek immediate assurances and the reintroduction of targeted exemptions for small-scale peat producers.