Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Subhead C.6.7 deals with bioenergy fuels, including miscanthus and willow. The budget allocation was €1 million but, for obvious reasons, the outturn was only €178,000. Only a limited area was planted with bioenergy crops because of issues relating to the ultimate use of these crops. Subhead C.6.3 on forestry development is a related area. A large number of farmers are harvesting willow crops and putting them into aerated storage but problems arise due to the breakdown and heating of the material. In England, sugar cane harvesters are being modified to cut billets, which are bits of timber only a few inches in length. These billets do not degrade as quickly because air can circulate through them and they can be used to produce wood briquettes or other forms of wood heating fuel. We need to expand beyond our current practices because nothing is happening. Will the Minister consider copying what is being done in the UK, where a renewable heat incentive scheme pays 1 p per kW/h of fossil fuels substituted with biomass. Departments would need to work together to create a final destination for these products because currently people are spraying off miscanthus fields. We have made a good step forward on the medium-term objectives but we are starting to lose ground.