Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There were heads of a Bill.

My last question is on the first round of funding from the climate action fund for various projects. One of my criticisms is that it is a bit Dublin centred although the seven projects are all very worthy in their own right. The Bord na Móna transition is not included and there is no allocation for that organisation. We know from meeting Bord na Móna representatives that they need funding to make the transition.

The three peat stations are moving to biomass. The Edenderry plant is 50% co-fired with biomass. It is a little crazy that we are converting the peat plants to biomass without having the supply chain in this country. We have talked about diversification in farming. Before I came in here, I met representatives of Friends of the Earth and when I go out I will meet representatives of the IFA. They have contrasting positions. Bearing those in mind, we have to make sure we have a supply chain. Some work has been done, particularly regarding forestry waste and thinnings, but an issue arises over hemp and other agricultural products. I flagged this a lot with the Minister's predecessor. I wish to flag it with the current Minister because we could end up in crazy circumstances in which we will be hauling biomass material from the far side of the world to here. It will look clean going into the power station but the carbon footprint associated with getting the material here will be substantial. Environmental damage is being done in some of the countries where the biomass material is coming from, including countries in South America, in terms of deforestation. I am flagging this as an area for action. Is any work being done on this?