Mr. Conall Bolger:

I will address those questions briefly. I suspect they might come up again under other question areas. On network access, there is a missing piece in terms of farmers looking to export from the farm. A trial was put in place for mini-generation. It would be where farms normally set land in terms of what they would like to export. ESB Networks received 150 applications from people who fit the scale and it was closed immediately, pending a review by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, and ESB Networks. We think that is probably not a wise thing to do because it generated interest and provided a route to the network for many people but then the door closed. That is a concern for the on-farm side. The large-scale utility stuff is a long-standing area of concern. It takes too long, costs too much and the process is too uncertain. We will probably circle back to that in later conversations.

As to when people will get paid, we understand that for those on the domestic side who are sub-6 kW, which is the standard size, payments are due to flow from 1 July with the option for credit going back to February, when the statutory instrument implementing it was signed. For farms that are sub-6 kW, it is unclear. It looks like it is quarter 3 or quarter 4. There is a package of measures including grants and export payments and there is avoiding energy prices. That is unclear, which is why I referenced it in my opening statement. For the people who are a bit bigger than that, and here farmers are relevant again, we are still waiting for clarity on what it will look like. Those people on the next step up get paid a clean export premium, so it is a slightly different rate. However, those people are likely to be looking at TAMS support. We cannot see how TAMS over here says you cannot export and people over there say you can get an export payment. That area needs clarification.

On capital acquisitions tax, we support the characterisation that it is energy farming as much as farming traditional agricultural products.

We have engaged with the Department of Finance and we have been asked to provide more information. I am not sure that we have done a good job convincing them just yet, but we are working hard on the topic. We would encourage all representatives to take an interest in it.

On VAT rates, members are probably aware that there is a European Union directive which states that the VAT on panels can be reduced by between 0% and 5%. If we are trying to encourage this roll-out and trying to help people, then we should make it a bit easier upfront and maybe shave a bit of the cost off in order that people can access it a bit more easily.