Working Paper to address challenges related to peat supply in the Horticulture Sector

Working Paper Prepared by Senior Officials in DAFM, DECC and DHLGH to address challenges in relation to the supply of peat and peat alternatives to the professional horticultural industry in Ireland

January 2022.

Purpose of Paper

This paper sets out a series of actions which have been put in place by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in conjunction with the Departments of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), and Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Housing) to alleviate the difficulties being faced by horticultural growers who are dependent on peat as a growing medium. The actions include a range of targeted measures which reflect the multi-faceted nature of the problem and the subsequent need for short, medium and long-term solutions. The measures are being put in place in the wake of the Final Report of the Working Group on the Use of Peat Moss in the Horticultural Industry.

1. Background

Extraction of peat for the Irish professional horticultural industry in recent years has been challenging from a legal and regulatory perspective. A series of High Court judgements, beginning in the early 2010’s, which dealt with peat extraction and lack of compliance across the extraction sector, has led to significant market supply issues (volume and price) for the horticulture industry in Ireland. This supply challenge has occurred while significant export of peat and peat products has been ongoing. Peat extraction has not been wholly compliant for some time in respect of large-scale industrial extraction on sites over 50 hectares where no operator has achieved full compliance.

2. Economic Value

Horticulture had an output valued at €469m (farm gate) in 2020. Horticulture Food represented €397m and amenity (non-food) horticulture €72m respectively. It is estimated that approximately 60% of the economic value is based on peat as a grow ing medium.

The home market is the most important market for the horticultural industry and important export markets have been developed for both the mushroom and amenity sectors of horticulture. The mushroom industry exports 85% (€115 million in export value) of production to the UK market with the balance sold on the domestic market. The total value of exports from the amenity horticultural sector was estimated at €17m in 2020.

3. Employment

The horticultural industry in Ireland is largely regionally based and has contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of rural communities and regions. It is estimated that more than 6,600 people are employed full time in primary production activity and a further 11,000 employed in value added and downstream businesses. Of those employed in the sector, around a quarter are engaged in the mushroom, protected soft fruit and amenity sectors.

4. Scale and perspective

The peat bogs in Ireland used to produce peat for horticulture are not intact peatlands. They have already been drained and the vegetation removed. According to the industry, horticultural peat extraction equates to 0.12% of total Irish peatlands.

Historically 90% of peat extracted in Ireland was for heat and energy use, with approximately 10% used within horticulture. Of that 10% it is estimated that approximately 90% of peat extracted for horticulture was exported, as milled peat or casing (used for mushroom production). Demand for peat extraction in Ireland has been significantly reduced due to the cessation of peat use for power generation and home heating and the somewhat diminished export of peat in 2021.

5. Volumes of peat required for the horticulture industry

It is estimated that the amenity, soft fruit and vegetable propagation sectors requires approximately 131,000 cubic metres of peat (this excludes the hobby market) on an annual basis.

The mushroom sector has a requirement for 112,632 cubic metres of peat on an annual basis. Alternatives to peat are being developed and in some circumstances are already replacing some peat use. With the prospect of further development of viable alternatives to peat, the overall quantity of peat and the area used for its extraction is expected to be significantly reduced over time.

6. Current legislative framework for peat extraction

Under the Planning and Development Acts, all development, unless specifically exempted, requires planning permission. Under the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, peat extraction (i) in a new or extended area of less than 10 hectare or (ii) in a new or extended area of 10 hectares or more, where the drainage of the bog land commenced prior to 21 January 2002, is exempted development. This exemption is subject to a restriction at section 4(4) of the 2000 Act, whereby that exempted development status is lost if an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under the EU EIA Directive or Appropriate Assessment (AA) under the Habitats Directive is required in respect of that development.

Peat extraction involving a new or extended area of 30 hectares or more requires an EIA and therefore planning permission. Peat extraction of an area of greater than 50 hectares requires both planning consent from a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála, and Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licensing from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), both of which regimes require EIA to be carried out by the respective competent authorities (i.e. planning authority and the EPA) and also AA if relevant.

In that context, the current legislative framework for large scale peat extraction requires any non-compliant entity which wishes to engage in the activity to apply for substitute consent under the Planning and Development Act 2000 in respect of past unregulated activity, to make an application for planning permission under the Act in respect of future activity and to apply for an IPC licence from the EPA. This process is time-consuming and would likely take a number of years to complete. Approval in these planning and licensing processes cannot be guaranteed. The requirement to regularise past unregulated activity ultimately derives not from the planning system but EU law in the form of the EIA Directive. This requirement would have to be incorporated into any legislative framework for peat extraction. Moreover, EU law requires that operators should only be allowed to apply for such retrospective regularisation where it can be demonstrated that prior unregulated activities are due to ‘exceptional circumstances’.

Any move away from the current dual consent system, as set out above, to a single consent system would require amendments to legislation by both the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and could not remove the requirement for past activity to be regularised through substitute consent. Any legislative changes required would need careful deliberation, even if it were agreed as a matter of Government policy that the consent system should be altered in this way, and the requisite changes would take a considerable amount of time. As mentioned, the dual consent system also applies to numerous other categories of large-scale development/activity, and the creation of bespoke arrangements for peat extraction could be seen as establishing a precedent for other sectors to demand regulatory changes.

In addition, the State is currently facing an EU infringement, at Reasoned Opinion stage, relating to a) the previous attempt in 2019 to remove peat extraction from the dual consent system, which was done in a non-EIA compliant manner, and b) the historic lack of implementation/enforcement of the requirements of the EIA Directive in relation to peat extraction. Any further attempt to replace the dual consent system which was not fully and demonstrably in compliance with the EIA Directive, or any perceived lack of enforcement on the part of the relevant authorities, would likely see this infringement escalated to the European Court of Justice.

As such, legislative changes to the consent system do not present a realistic short or medium-term solution to the difficulties facing the horticulture industry in the immediate term. Therefore, the dual consent system is being retained. This is on the basis that the current legislative framework is both legally fit for purpose and proportionate to the environmental impacts of industrial peat extraction, and that any policy measures should be focused on the limited resumption, in a fully EIA/AA compliant manner, of peat extraction solely to meet the needs of the domestic professional horticulture sector in the period before non-peat alternatives represent a viable alternative.

Finally, it is accepted across Government that a level of peat extraction is required for the domestic horticulture sector. It is also accepted that a legislative framework that provides a pathway to regulatory compliance is in place. Furthermore, it is accepted by Government that the fastest route to compliance lies in small scale bogs of less than 30 hectare bogs and this pathway has been successfully tested on other small-scale bogs in the recent past.

7. Bord na Móna

Bord na Móna has supplied peat in the past for the amenity horticulture industry (but not the mushroom industry). It is now transitioning to green solutions and no longer extracts peat for use in the Irish horticultural industry. Bord na Móna is subject to the same regulatory framework as the other peat extraction companies and has IPC licences in place.

Bord na Móna has indicated that it would be willing to assist in any way it can to alleviate the current situation that the Irish horticultural industry find itself in. The assistance could involve the provision, on commercial terms, of access to extraction equipment, institutional and professional knowhow, and mixing plant.

Bord na Móna has indicated availability of approximately 2000 tonnes of horticultural grade peat and potentially significantly higher volume of hobby grade peat (which may or may not be deemed suitable).

8. Peat Exports and Retail.

While the Central Statistics Office collects information on peat imports and exports, the data captured doesn’t differentiate between types of peat i.e., peat for fuel or peat for horticulture. 10,437 tonnes of peat were imported in 2020, while 42,818 tonnes were imported in 2021 to the end of September. Imported peat is mainly sourced from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Historically, peat extracted in Ireland for horticultural use was primarily destined for the export market. In 2020, exports of peat amounted to 919,371 tonnes. Great Britain accounted for over 65% of these exports. 500,253 tonnes of peat were exported in 2021 up to the end of September.

The retail market represents a high value destination for some of the exported peat, with Irish exporters supplying substantial quantities of peat to the hobby market in Great Britain. This hobby grade peat is a lower grade peat than that used for the professional amenity and soft fruit sectors.

9. Working Group Report to Review the Use of Peat Moss in the Horticulture Industry

The Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform established a Peat Working Group to review the use of Peat Moss in the Horticulture Industry under the chairmanship of Dr. Munoo Prasad.

The principal remit of the Working Group was to examine alternatives to the use of peat in the horticulture industry. As well as discussing matters directly within this remit, the Working Group broadened its discussions to include the current situation that the horticultural industry finds itself in and the legislative position more generally.

The shared view of the Ministers for Housing, Planning and Local Government; Agriculture, Food and the Marine; and Environment, Climate and Communication is that the Report and the Chair’s recommendations provide a useful analysis of the regulatory and technical aspects regarding the use of peat in the domestic horticulture industry, however, the range of actions which can reasonably, legally and practically be put in place on foot of it, are included in the actions outlined below.

10. Series of Actions

A series of actions have been put in place by DAFM, in conjunction with DECC and Housing. These actions provide support to Irish horticultural growers who are dependent on peat as a growing medium.

These actions are being announced in the wake of the publication of both the Final Report of the Working Group on the Use of Peat Moss in the Horticultural Industry, and the recently commissioned expert guidance document on the regulatory system around peat extraction which was jointly commissioned by DECC and Housing.

The actions are:

Short Term

1. The Department of Agriculture will commission an independent expert to work with all suppliers to ascertain the level of horticultural peat stocks available to growers. The current understanding is that there is sufficient stock available to supply growers for the coming period. Bord na Mona has indicated that it may have up to 2,000 tonnes of high grade horticultural peat available which it is willing to make available on commercial terms.

2. The independent expert will also work with Bord na Móna, other suppliers and growers to ascertain whether or not any hobby or other peat on their estate would be of interest or value to growers. Such peat might be suitable for mixing by current suppliers to produce a growing medium of value to growers. Should that be the case, Bord na Mona is willing to supply it.

3. The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, to publish expert guidance on the regulation of peat extraction in Ireland.

Medium Term

4. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will commission an expert(s) on planning to provide free advice to those wishing to achieve regulatory compliance for extraction of horticultural peat on sub-30 hectare bogs for supply to the domestic horticulture industry. Bord na Móna has given an assurance to make available the use of its equipment to mix such peat, should it become available.

Longer Term

5. DAFM will continue to support and facilitate research in the development of alternatives to peat for horticulture. It should be noted that €1.69m was recently awarded to Teagasc for research into utilising organic bio-resources and novel technologies to develop specifically designed and sustainable peat replacements.

6. The National Parks and Wildlife Service has committed to the provision of assistance and support on the rehabilitation and restoration of bogs after short term legally compliant extraction has concluded.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine hopes the measures above will provide comfort and reassurance to those they are aiming to support, Irish Horticultural growers.

All three Departments meanwhile would jointly emphasise that any suppliers seeking a resumption of peat extraction at scale will be consistently directed toward meaningful engagement with the current regulatory framework with a view to ensure that any such resumption is fully in compliance with EU law, which licensing and planning authorities are required to enforce