Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For the information of Mr. Stanley-Smith, we resolved earlier that we would visit the Tipperary Energy Agency and the Cloughjordan Ecovillage as part of our thinking here.

On methane, are the witnesses aware of any methods of methane sequestration that would be practical and useful, based on the fact that methane per cow is increasing according the figures given earlier? Are they aware of anything in that regard?

Another question is on the growth of plants that have high levels of protein. We were talking about having to move from a meat-based diet to a plant-based diet, and a mix of whatever. I understand from the previous report that we did on the agriculture committee that we import a huge number of protein plants for animal feed. Are the witnesses aware of the potential that may or may not be there?

The other question is on the generation of ethanol from the use of sugar beet. As we know, we had a strong tradition of growing sugar beet in this country. It now appears sugar beet is a good opportunity to generate ethanol.

On the task force to fund the transition for the midlands, I am from Offaly and energy generation is very much part of our DNA through ESB and Bord na Móna and the massive employment it provided for generations. We experienced some emigration but certainly not anything like what was experienced in other counties over the years. Practically, how would that be done? One is looking at mostly men who are highly skilled in a particular area. How will they be retrained to work in something new or whatever? We need to do this but we are trying to figure out how we can do this in a way that makes the transition as smooth and pain-free as possible. We do not want the message to go out that we want to close them all down and they will all be unemployed. Nobody wants that.

It is for us to try to figure out how we can do this in a way that helps us to do what we want, which is to reduce our emissions, and ensure that, as previous speakers have said, we carefully manage rural people who are living and working in what I consider to be vibrant rural economies.