Laois Offaly demand on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to block Green ban on online turf sales

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael TDs must demand that Green Party Minister Eamon Ryan reverses his plans to prohibit the online sale of turf, a Laois Offaly TD has insisted.

Deputy Carol Nolan was speaking after she claimed that Minister Ryan confirmed that he intends to ban the sale of commercial turf through online websites and advertising.

“The approach of the Greens to the sale of turf and the use of turf has always been absolutely pathetic and rooted in an abysmal failure to comprehend, appreciate or recognise the traditional value of turf cutting and the more recent need for its use to be maintained during a cost-of-living crisis.

“It is now way past the point for Fianna Fail TD’s and Fine Gael TD’s to get off the fence; to stop their equivocating and their half-hearted ‘defences’ of turf cutting and turf use and actually demand that this Green minister, who commands no meaningful support for his nanny state agenda is stopped in his tracks.

“People in Offaly and Laois are consistently telling me they have lost all faith in Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to actually do something meaningful on this issue. They see, as we all see, that ultimately they will give the Green minister the green light to continue his attack on turf.

“It was only in the last fortnight that Fianna Fail Minister, Charlie McConalogue, failed to provide me with robust assurances around the protection of turbary rights. That woke a lot of people up to the level of complicity that is going on between all of the government parties on this issue.

“I am emphatically telling Minister Ryan and his cheerleaders in Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to back off from rural Ireland and to back off from the banning of the sale of turf in any way, shape or form,” concluded Deputy Nolan.

Minister Ryan has said his proposals were being misrepresented.

“The traditional arrangements – as when someone has turbary rights, selling to a neighbour -- that will not be restricted.

“Where the restrictions will be introduced is on retail and the internet,” he said.

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He said they would be targeted at commercial operations.

“This is about all sorts of fuels. This is about regulating, first and foremost, smoky coal. It will not affect those who are relying on traditional persons selling [turf] to them for their heating or their own use. That’s the case.”