Ms Caroline Moran:

There was mention of Offaly and Mayo with respect to peat production. As has been mentioned, it is really important that there should be plans in place before peat production is closed so workers can have options in what they do afterwards. If there is to be a change, those workers need different options and time to think. At a community level there must be thought on what new industries can be brought in to benefit the entire community.

There was mention of carbon tax and feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaic equipment, which is really important. The uptake of solar photovoltaic technology in countries with feed-in tariffs has been huge. If there is fuel poverty or people have low incomes without supplements, they could get profits from a feed-in tariff rather than just a grant. Retired people in their homes during the day may use electricity while it is generated and therefore it would cut their costs. Conversely, if people are at work all day they do not get the benefit of energy that is being produced but they would see a benefit through a feed-in tariff. They would get the money back. Such a process could work, especially in rural communities. We have spoken much about farmers and if they are leaving land spare, there could be large-scale solar photovoltaic installations to generate income as well. We need to be creative in what we do.