Professor Gerry Boyle:

On the GM-free issue, I agree completely with Mr. Spink that there are cost implications. The preliminary indications are that they are not significant at current prices, but it would be a big assumption to rely on this because prices will change, as Mr Spink said. If consumers demand such a product and competitor products are labelled as such, we may not have a choice, which is why it is a matter of urgency for Teagasc to identify what alternatives are available to dry stock and, in particular, dairy farmers.

Senator Paul Daly asked an interesting question about our position on GM crops and the growing of energy crops. We have no position other than a desire to comply with the law and current departmental policy. Irrespective of use, the growing of GM crops is not permitted in Ireland. There are risks of contamination with non-GM strains and so on and they would cross over to crops that could be fed to both animals and humans.

Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked whether the RHI should be limited to Irish-grown crops. That is a matter for policymakers to determine.

In my view, given our limited resources, for any such scheme we should look to promote our own sector. There was an interesting question about the production of biogas from silage. We are about to commission an anaerobic digester for research purposes at our Grange site. It is a system that operates on both slurry and grass silage. The best alternative for grass is to use it in the production of livestock products but for an individual farmer with less livestock than is optimal, it may be an opportunity. We will research how exactly it might function over the next number of years.