Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I raise the sector's role in the energy transition, with a particular focus on solar. It operates at different scales, at a utility scale in large holdings, with a number in my own county, Meath. It is also on farm sheds, commercial buildings and piggeries. I ask the Minister for an update on that, the opportunity he sees in it and the efforts to try to realise it. Specifically, will he speak on the TAMS restriction and farmers not being paid a feed-in or export tariff.

Elsewhere there is the challenge around land use. Perhaps the Minister will speak to the land use concerns for alternative fuels. How is the Department working its way through approaches to anaerobic digestion, biogas and biomass? What considerations are the Department making in that area and what opportunity does the Department see in those sectors? We often hear of people talking about hydrogenated vegetable oil, HVO, for example, and biogas, and I am aware there are challenges in planning and elsewhere to make that happen. What are the considerations on this?