Peat briquettes won't be banned, Taoiseach confirms

Peat briquettes will not feature in new regulations banning the sale of smoky fuel this year, the Taoiseach has confirmed.

Micheál Martin moved to clarify the position in the wake of fresh criticism of Green Party leader Eamon Ryan following suggestions he made in the Dáil that peat briquettes could be subject to a sale ban from September.

Mr Ryan suggested that peat briquette makers will have to show their products will be below stated health standards.

“I’ll be perfectly honest, I’ll be looking at the science there to make sure, are we absolutely certain that those peat briquettes, because of the way they are processed, because of the way they burn, are below the 10 micrograms of pollution that is put out into the atmosphere?” Mr Ryan said.

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen hit out at Mr Ryan for raising the prospect of a ban when he knows Bord na Mona peat briquettes are already below the safety standard threshold. Mr Cowen said: 

He shouldn’t have gone into the Dáil and raised fears and worries among the workforce and the communities.

Speaking in Cork yesterday, the Taoiseach said smoky coal is, and always has been, the main target of the new regulations.

“There are legal issues in terms of how one goes about doing that in respect of other fuels,” he said.

He said Mr Ryan has been working with the party leaders and the attorney general on the proposed regulations to give effect to a ban on smoky coal and the impact that would have on the retail sale of turf and wet timber.

“But I am confident that we can get a resolution of this in a pragmatic way,” he said:  

Peat briquettes won’t feature in this current set of regulations. 

Mr Martin also addressed the ownership controversy surrounding the proposed new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) , describing protesters’ concerns about a religious influence over the facility as a “red herring”.

Government plans to approve the relocation of the NMH to the St Vincent’s campus were paused this week after some ministers expressed concerns about the process and requested more time to consider the move. 

It has emerged that tens of millions of euro have already been spent on “site preparation” works for the new hospital.