Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)

I have a question on natural materials and hemp in particular. It is astonishing that we have not moved on the hemp issue. There was an article in the paper last week about a farmer working on marginal land in Castlegregory down in west Kerry. It really seems like an open goal. I have seen hemp being used as insulation material. It is particularly valuable for traditional buildings because it is breathable material but it can also be used to make hempcrete and hemp blocks. Can anyone shed light on why we are not moving the regulatory side of it over to the Department of agriculture? I know there were issues regarding the CBD content as the regulations here are different from those in mainland Europe. Is the sector advocating for this? It is a fantastic material and we should be using a hell of a lot more of it.