Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. On the solar, there are two strands to it. There is massive potential here, as the Deputy has acknowledged. Just last week we announced new funding and grants under the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, on-farm investment. We know that we need to drive this on significantly and farmers have a very strong appetite for it. We have increased the grant rates from 40% in the outgoing scheme to 60% now. We have also provided a different and entirely separate investment ceiling for solar, which does not use up farmers' full allowances, and which they may use for other things. There is a separate ceiling now for solar which is up to a maximum of €90,000 for a family farm, at a grant rate of 60%. That covers the solar panels as well as battery storage. This is for on-farm usage. We have also removed the need for planning permission for on-roof solar panels. This can also be applied on farm dwelling houses. I foresee a very significant uptake in this and significant interest. We are going to have to manage it. I expect the demand to be so strong that we will have to manage it so the actual capacity is there in the system to roll it out. We must examine that part but we are determined to drive this on and we have already started it through that measure.

Where there is TAMS support that avails of State-aid allowances meant to be for the farm footprint and farm use, one cannot also then use that to be paid for anything that spills over into the grid. We will give the battery storage so people can match their solar capacity to the battery to make sure that they can use it.

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is developing a feed-in tariff for commercial generation, which I expect them to announce shortly. This is something that farmers can develop separately and create opportunity from, in terms of having more commercial-based solar panels and stacking that up from a financial point of view solely on the feed-in tariff. That will be alongside the funding and I see good potential there.

With regard to alternative land use, the Deputy will be aware of the forestry programme. That has a lot of benefits, from emissions reductions to carbon capture, and when done appropriately the programme enhances the environment and the biodiversity space too. Coillte has a 50% policy in relation to how they do that, for example.

On the anaerobic digestion, we will have a strategy by the third quarter of this year. We are working closely with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications on that. It will offer real potential for farmers to be able to grow grass to feed the anaerobic digesters. Over the climate action plan our target by 2030 is that 10% of our total national gas needs and gas requirement will be provided through anaerobic digestion. It will be based around the strategy we are putting together.