Dr. Tara Reale:

Lightsource bp has ten farms in Northern Ireland that we developed four or five years ago. It is down to economics and a number of other factors but they work everywhere. In respect of the question about the size of the scheme, it really comes down to the amount of grid capacity that is available at any location. That is a perfect example of a decent relatively small development on a 38 kV ESB network but if you are going up to 110 kV transmission network where there tends to be a bit more capacity, the projects need to be bigger just to afford the cost of the substation and the fixed costs of such a scheme.

I will touch on the other points the Deputy raised about the different types of farmers. We speak to everybody - tillage, beef and dairy. Some people just do not have the interest in it because they really enjoy farming and want to continue while others see it as a really good way of diversifying their income stream - even if it is for interest. Some see it as a retirement option. Many different kinds of farmers are interested in the solar option. You cannot keep beef cattle on the same land simply because they are too big but you could keep some of the farm over. Not everybody wants to give all their land over. It is really sheep and small livestock that are suitable for grazing with panels.