Bord na Móna has only managed to extract 1 per cent of its annual peat harvest so far because of the poor weather.
By June the board would normally have extracted nearly 40 per cent of the 3.8 million tonnes it requires annually to keep the peat fired stations running, peat briquette and horticultural demands.
As the company has a stockpile of five million tonnes of milled peat there will be no scarcity, but the 500 seasonal workers who rely on the work in the bogs are facing a very tough winter.
The workers, who are guaranteed 13 weeks seasonal work with company, are being employed for two days each week, giving them a wage of €192 a week.
Normally at this time of year the seasonal staff are working from dawn till dusk and can earn up to €800 a week.
This has impacted also on the earning potential of the full-time workers who make big money in overtime while the harvesting is in full swing. Now they too are on basic salaries.
This loss of income has created a regional recession, especially in the midlands where the economy relies heavily on the incomes taken from the bogs, the ESB power stations and farming.
The chief executive of Bord na Móna Energy, Mr Sean Grogan,said the problems caused by the rain were more serious this year than at any stage in the past 44 years.
"We have to look back to 1964 to find a month of June which delivered less production. In that year we only produced 1 per cent of the total harvest - the difference was that we had managed to get 5 per cent of that harvest in May," he said.
"I have no doubt we will get a harvest this year. We have had bad years before and we have managed to extend the season into October," he said.
"Our main problem is that we cannot get the machinery on to the bogs because the bog is too soft on the headlands. Then, we need dry weather to harvest and we have had 50 per cent more rain this year than normal," he said.
"We have stockpiles of five million tonnes of peat, which is more than adequate to meet the demands which run to 3.8 million tonnes annually. But we want to get a harvest and hopefully, we will," he said.
Mr Paudge Bennett, who is chairman of SIPTU in Boora bog, outside Tullamore, said the inability to work in the bogs was creating major problems for people in the area.
"The company took the casual men on to fulfil their contract in May but had laid them off again. They took them back last week but they are only on a two-day-week basis," he said.
"The men rely on the harvest money to get them through the rest of the year and can earn, with bonus and other payments up to €800 a week for the season in a normal year," he said.
"They are only getting €192 now and that is a huge loss to men with families to support, especially those with children in full- time education."
He said these workers were being badly caught because they are unable to accept other work while waiting for the call to come from Born na Móna.
He said the union was having ongoing discussions with the company about the worsening situation.
"It is not just the 650 casual workers who are losing out, but the permanent staff as well. Their earnings are also down dramatically and this is impacting heavily on the local economy," he said.
Mr Tom Parlon, Minister of State for Finance, said he was monitoring the situation very carefully and was very aware of the damage being done to the local economy by the weather.
"Business people in the midlands are telling me they are beginning to feel the pinch from what is essentially a freezing of the economy there because of the rain," he said.
He said the lack of earnings was being felt most in towns like Rathcormack and Ferbane and even in the bigger centres like Birr and Tullamore. "I am just hoping the weather will take up so the bogs can open again and the farmers too can get on with saving the harvest," he said.