As the Taoiseach is aware, garden centres, nurseries, soft fruit growers and the horticultural industry in general rely to a great extent on the availability of milled peat. Bord na Móna currently has stocks of milled peat and a proportion of it was earmarked for the horticultural sector. Recently, it has become apparent that Bord na Móna has diverted a lot of peat to export markets. As a result of the curtailment in supplies, the horticultural industry is losing its crucial raw material of milled peat. This is endangering their business and has serious implications for sustaining jobs in the sector. In Tipperary alone, this current policy will damage and adversely affect 19 horticultural outlets, six major growers and put at risk 480 jobs. I ask the Taoiseach to review the use of peat in the horticultural sector. Its use in this sector does not involve pollution and can in fact go beyond the status of carbon-neutral and become carbon-friendly.

I take on board what the Deputy says and I will inquire further into it. As he is aware, there was a High Court judgment in 2019, which reaffirmed that commercial peat extraction, absent planning permission, constitutes unauthorised development and the onus is on operators to first regularise their past activity via the planning system. I do not say that necessarily applies here. Planning permission can then be secured before any recommencement of harvesting can take place. There are issues in terms of continuing to extract peat. In late November, the Government approved €108 million for Bord na Móna's large-scale peatlands restoration project, which will create and support 350 jobs in Bord na Móna and contribute to Ireland's target of being carbon-neutral by 2050. Commercial peat extraction is subject to a dual-consent process requiring planning permission. Sites of more than 50 ha require an integrated pollution control licence from the Environmental Protection Agency.

I thank the Taoiseach. The time is up.

I take the point that the suspension of commercial peat extraction has implications for operators in the sector and for the horticultural sector.

The time is up.

I will see what can be done.