Mr. Karol Kissane:

I thank the president. I guess I will add a little because I am looking at renewables as well as working with Ms McDonagh on the farm business. We hope we can engage more with the Government on looking at policy around where anaerobic digestion, AD, can move to within the country. There is AD in many other countries, especially in Europe. You can see it in Denmark, for instance, or even just go across the Border to Northern Ireland and see the AD industry there.

The blueprints are there to see how AD can work. We would be of the opinion that it is now time to engage to see how this can move forward and whether there is a possibility of an AD industry happening here within the State. If it is to happen, as the president outlined, can we produce that biomethane at a reasonable rate that can be injected into the national grid? Can it help to decarbonise the gas network? Can it help our colleagues in road haulage? Can they use some of that biomethane?

There was reference to the cutting of silage, etc. New Holland has methane-driven tractors developed at this stage. I am not sure of the cost and how far down the road it will be before they will be in mass production but if we can have something like that here within the country, we can farm and take diesel out of the equation in agriculture. As we stated in our earlier submission, chapter 13 of the report mentions the equalisation of duties and taxes across all different oils and fuels, including diesel, and suggests that you would bring MGO or agricultural diesel up to the same level as unleaded petrol. At the moment-----