Mr. Pat Cleary:

Deputy Corcoran Kennedy asked about the potential diversification into energy with crops like sugar beet.

She also asked about oilseed rape and I apologise for not answering that. Oilseed rape is grown on many arable farms. At present, it is generally used in feed. It is not processed in Ireland. There is no processing plant for pure plant oil from oilseed rape which can be used as biodiesel. There was an incentive some years ago and it was withdrawn. Many who had invested in those processing plants went broke.

Oilseed rape is a versatile crop. Energy can be produced from it. The cake that is left after it has been rolled is a high-protein animal feed. It is a fantastic break crop. There are many people in the UK making other food products apart from cooking oil. Mayonnaise can be produced if other products are mixed with it. It is a very versatile crop.

Need we say any more about sugar beet? Its primary purpose initially was sugar. It can be and is used successfully for anaerobic digestion, AD. All the surplus sugar beet in Germany is used and has replaced atomic energy there. A substantial amount of that by-product was beet pulp, which was a great feed for livestock. Ethanol can be produced from it, which is blended with petrol, and it also has industrial uses. One of the relevant issues relating to that crop is it is the most carbon positive crop that can be grown because it filters or cleans the air. As a practical equation, if there is a herd of dairy cattle grazing in a field and a field of sugar beet beside it, that area would be carbon neutral.

The reason the willow and miscanthus did not work was quite simple. We are talking about first generation crops that are used in crop rotation that do not take the land out of production. In fact, all these crops will suit the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, as a break crop at present with the three-crop rule, and with the following cereal crop there will be a bounce of 30% to 35% in yield. If a person grows willow, that land is being taken out of production forever because it grows a root down into the ground. One cannot switch after year three and not grow willow anymore. Maybe there are areas where it can be used. Arable farmers tried miscanthus and it did not work.

We will not take our land out of production. It means that much to us. If there is marginal land that people want to develop, that is fine, but we should not be asked to take arable land out of food or grain production. We will not do it. It just will not happen. There are plenty of first generations, for example, the beet and maize for AD. Obviously, we need to look at the whole REFIT tariff, the renewable heat incentives, etc. I mentioned briefly that planning issues are a huge problem on farms. We were put through the same rigours as those who would be doing industrial-type development, which is crazy. If the committee is serious about this, it should look at the whole process and how we are going to develop it in the future.