The Government has been warned that jobs are at risk in the local horticulture sector because of the ban on harvesting peat.
Peat moss is widely used in the sector, including by mushroom growers.
However, it now has to be imported from abroad as Bord na Móna has ceased harvesting it.
The decision to put in place the ban was made to protect the country's bogs and increase biodiversity.
Local TD Matt Carthy warned the Government that it risks 'exporting' the horticulture sector if changes aren't made to allow flexibility for companies.
Speaking in the Dáil he told junior Agriculture Minister Senator Pippa Hackett that the amount of peat used in the food sector is a fraction of what would have been used in the country's power stations.
He warned a failure to act will have serious consequences for the local area:
