A vote on a Sinn Fein motion to scrap plans to ban the sale and distribution of turf will take place in the Dail this evening.
The issue's proven divisive among the coalition parties, with many Fianna Fail and Fine Gael backbench TD's strongly opposed to the measure introduced by the Environment Minister Eamon Ryan.
Sinn Fein's Claire Kerrane says the issue has become a 'pantomime' but for people in rural Ireland it's a huge concern.
''We cut turf at home, we always have. Most of my neighbours rely on turf. But then there are people in my area who buy a bag of turf for 2.50-3.00 Euro, and that's the kind of cost we're looking at. They'll put it in their range to heat their water or heat their house, it'll heat the radiators and heat the room. It'll cook breakfast, dinner and tea. That's what we're looking at. And that's what turf does for an awful lot of households. And people say a motion and kind of brush it away like it's nothing that's really important.''
