ICSA Rural Development chair Tim Farrell has said there is simply no justification for making criminals of ordinary people by prohibiting the sale or distribution of turf. “While those with cutting rights will be permitted use turf for their own domestic consumption, from September of this year it will be illegal to gift or sell any amount of turf to neighbours and friends. It beggars’ belief,” he said.

“Vilifying any individual for helping family members, neighbours and friends keep their homes warm is a step too far especially amid spiralling energy costs. Those living in rural Ireland are already being hammered with over-the-top rules and regulations about burning green waste, and now this. It all adds up to the Government being totally out of touch with the practical realities of managing hedges and trees on farms, as well as the use of basic amounts of turf for domestic purposes.”

“For the people of rural Ireland, the reality of dealing with the ever-increasing burden of bureaucratic nonsense supposedly designed to save the planet is becoming too much to bear. It is becoming more and more clear that what people in the rural population are being asked to do really has very little to do with the problem. In the meantime, this Government is continuing to drag their heels on the genuine solutions like incentivising every farmer to cover shed roofs with solar panels or developing the renewable biogas and biofuel sectors.”

ENDS