Mr. Kevin Brady:

The sustainability criteria would be the primary method. The second point is in terms of how we would encourage it to happen in Ireland as opposed to France. We have to look at the supply side. In the past, it did not work as well as planned because when the supply-side measures were put in place, there was no demand. One must put the demand-side measures in place, that is, the RHI, and then that will provide a market, a demand for biomass. If domestic industry needs support, the appropriate place for that to be put in place would be on the supply side.

There were a couple of other questions. In terms of why the EU is deciding to do this in renewable energy and not in other areas, I honestly cannot tell why the EU has chosen this particular area but, obviously, it is focusing on the renewable energy targets.

For grass working in biomass needing a tariff of 10 cent or 11 cent, we need to be conscious that the RHI is a multi-annual programme that would be funded from the Exchequer. Therefore, we need to ensure that there would be value for money for the Exchequer and identify the most cost-effective way for the renewable heat incentive.