Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I appreciate the Deputy's concern on the issue and thank her for raising it. As she knows, there has been a long-standing policy in terms of peat extraction because of the impacts it has in terms of both biodiversity and climate perspective. In the last iteration of this policy in the previous Government, my understanding was that small and turbary rights domestic users of turf would not in any way be impacted. It is still my view that they are not impacted. I think the Deputy is talking about smaller commercial extractors, or what she would describe as small, which would be 30 ha. That is not quite small. The trajectory of travel has been trying to wean ourselves off commercial extraction of peat.
As I said earlier, Bord na Móna has transformed its operations very effectively. I believe we are on the cusp, hopefully, of something significant in Offaly and Laois and the midlands, in particular, around a new form of energy, new types of initiatives and new types of investments that can create jobs in the area. Just as we set up Bord na Móna decades ago when the State needed employment in the midlands, it is our objective that we now reposition Bord na Móna and turn its land and its assets into opportunities for economic development. I have been at a number of investments around the energy field in the area, Shannonbridge on the last occasion, which was quite exciting and interesting. Just transition is there, then, to try to help people who are impacted by the change. I acknowledge that. I will have to engage with the Ministers concerned in light of the points the Deputy has raised and I will try to get a more updated position for her in terms of the detail of the situation.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15