Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations, which were very worthwhile. What I am picking up from what they are saying is that we need a strategy but that strategy seems to have a different hierarchy. I would like to probe how that needs to be structured. Not utilising waste that would otherwise go to landfill is a terrible missed opportunity. The low collection rate and the contamination rate are serious. Replacing local heat needs with locally delivered AD is a very high priority because it avoids all the wastage in delivery by electricity. It seems to be a different issue if supplying into the grid. Would it be different for large commercial operators versus a single farm or a couple of farms? Would they need a completely different support regime? Is that what people are advocating? Could there be a subsidy for establishment and sale at the going price on the grid? Would that do or would we need the 15-year commitment to a high price? How does this area compare to other renewables we might source? We have heard that wind is the big opportunity for Ireland. In the context of farming, if this is a displacement of dry stock that was relatively unprofitable and is a huge methane gain from society's point of view, how would the farmer gain from that in a regime of this sort? Do we need a specialist regime that recognises farmers growing biomass for AD and reducing their herd? They would have to get a very different deal from something that is done separately. If so, how do we create a framework that rewards those farmers who switch to another type of enterprise?