My Department carried out a consultative process in 2021 to examine the commercial viability of growing hemp for fibre use only. The report on this consultation was published in December 2022.
As part of the consultation, stakeholders were invited to consider a number of questions including existing markets, the strengths and weaknesses of hemp as a crop its scalability, processing requirements, and the potential economic returns across the supply chain. Two submissions were received as part of that consultation.
The main finding of the report was that the growing of fibre crops such as hemp for the purposes of fibre production only is not currently viable in Ireland. However, hemp can be successfully grown in Ireland and offers opportunities for diversification and crop rotation while delivering environmental benefits. Potential markets also exist for hemp fibre with its use in the construction industry offering the most significant opportunity.
The scaling up of hemp crop production would be dependent on numerous factors including the development of stable markets, significant capital investment to increase processing capacity and collaboration with all stakeholders along the supply chain, all of which must be industry led. The report noted that while the outcome of the consultation did not support the viability of fibre crops such as hemp in Ireland, it is a matter for the industry to address and bring forward a proposal containing viable options for consideration.
Hemp is included as an eligible crop under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme. However, current legislation in Ireland does not allow for the growing of hemp unless a specific license has been granted by the Health Products Regulatory Authority which operates under the auspices of the Department of Health.
