Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed)

3:00 pm

Photo of Brian StanleyBrian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Tom Donnellan and the other panel members from Bord na Móna. It is timely that they have come before the Joint Committee on Climate Action. As Vice Chairman of this committee but also as a former employee of Bord na Móna, I have a particular interest in the area. I have been frustrated for a number of years because I felt Bord na Móna would shut up shop. That reflects what people say to me in the constituencies of Laois and Offaly who are very concerned about the future of Bord na Móna. There has been a lack of consistency in Bord na Móna in the past decade or so in terms of trying to plan. I sense from meeting the witnesses in the past month that a renewal is taking place, that they are looking at alternatives and trying to develop new businesses. That is welcome, and we want to be with them on that in terms of fulfilling Bord na Móna's mandate for jobs in the midlands and developing industry.

Biomass will be a crucial issue but in terms of importing it, and Mr. Spier touched on this briefly, there is a huge footprint if we haul it long distances, be it from Indonesia, Africa or America. I know the witnesses are trying to play catch-up because it has not been developed here. In terms of the research, the willow scheme did not work out but silver birch grows naturally on cut-away bog and on marginal land. How far advanced are we with that in terms of developing those new supply chains in the midlands?

On the Bord na Móna plant in Edenderry, 70% of the biomass going into that plant is from indigenous sources. Will Mr. Donnellan outline briefly where that is coming from because it will surprise many people that 70% is from indigenous sources. It is already burning 50% biomass. In terms of the 70% from indigenous sources, where is it coming from and where could quick gains be made on that?

I understand the breaks have been put on the plans for the American plant but I would be interested to know if the company have plans to develop plants in other countries?

In terms of the jobs, the major fear is that the midlands will become what I refer to as the rust belt. Before Bord na Móna started up, there was very little else in terms of employment in many parts of Offaly and Laois.

My father, who worked in Bord na Móna, often said that this was the case when he started in 1950. There was little employment in towns such as Edenderry. The concern is that we do not go back to that. Bord na Móna will need substantial funding to make that transition. It is a successful semi-State company but it does not carry a significant profit margin. According to its annual reports over the years, it pays valuable a dividend to the State. That is a valuable contribution in terms of tax and PRSI. What funding do the witnesses think Bord na Móna needs to make that transition? Is the climate action fund a realistic option for the company?

Has Bord na Móna been talking with Government about the current subsidy for peat burning? Has it made a bid to have some of that funding hived off to make the transition to renewables? With regard to baseload, during the past session, the witnesses referred to it briefly with wind and solar. One can use solar during the day and wind at night. However, they are intermittent sources. There is a need to develop sources upon which we can rely for a baseload, or a continuous source of power such as biogas. I would like Bord na Móna to put more focus on that. There are opportunities to do that because we have a significant agricultural sector and a significant problem with agricultural waste. We know that because the Government had to go to the EU again recently regarding pig slurry, which other countries turn into power. They use that for generating power.

How long does Bord na Móna think it will continue with the sale of peat compost and peat briquettes? I have a particular interest in peat compost. Regarding the Garryhinch project, the management before the previous management took us on a bus to Garryhinch, which is a cutaway bog. There is a lot of talk about cutaway bogs and the environment. I have heard people talk about them who have never put a foot on a bog. Anybody who has ever been out on a cutaway bog would have seen that they have a significant environmental value because they are lower and easier to wet and there is considerable vegetation and wildlife on them. There is significant potential for Garryhinch to be used as a water source, for attenuation and to solve a problem and possibly create something. The River Barrow flows within a mile of it at the other side of the Mountmellick-Portarlington road. The Barrow is on one side of it and Garryhinch is on the other. For three or four months every year for the past number of years, the land to the right of it around Clonterry has been flooded and people have been unable to get in and out of their homes. Garryhinch bog, which is lower, is on the other side of the road. I am told that there is an underground culvert there but it would be very easy to use that for attenuation. Perhaps Garryhinch could be used for Bord na Móna's aquaculture plans.

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