Mr. Thomas Cooney:

Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked about the White Paper on energy. We cannot make the same mistakes in the case of solar as we did in the case of wind energy. There is a need for legislation to incentivise community participation. This must be done by providing for an increased tariff where there is community participation.

Senator Michelle Mulherin asked about the uptake of the renewable heat support scheme. We need to create a market for it. The Government may need to introduce a mandatory use obligation in public buildings - a requirement to use indigenously produced materials for biomass.

The Senator also mentioned microgeneration. The reality is that public policy has not taken it seriously. There is a great opportunity to engage in microgeneration, in the first instance, to offset our energy use in homes and on farms. It can also be done by combining battery storage with microgeneration. However, we need supports. We will need a refit and possibly grants for battery storage also That, in turn, will reduce our overall emissions and consumption of energy.

Deputy Martin Kenny asked if anaerobic digestion would be of benefit. Mr. Keane touched on it also. Anaerobic digestion, combined with separation, would help to reduce the amount of waste that would have to be spread on land. It is wrong, however, to call it waste as it is a valuable nutrient. The problem is getting it. Again, we need incentives in that regard. As Mr. Keane said, there is an also opportunity to engage in community-based activity, but there is a need for incentives, grant aid and tariff supports.

Deputy Jackie Cahill spoke about grid availability. At this stage all of our submissions to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities in Ireland, CRU, have been made and it now needs to deliver on its proposals. We need to discontinue grid trading by developers and provide for grid preference for farm-scale and community projects. That ties in with what I said previously. We also have to ensure planning permission is in place before granting grid access.

On the other questions about the beef sector and all the rest, almost 90% of the measures included in the current rural development plan are carbon reducing measures. We need proper recognition for carbon sequestration on grassland. We need to call on Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Authority to combine and carry out more research to the sequestration on our grassland and in our forestry recognised. As the president of the IFA, Mr. Healy, said, farm-scale forestry needs to be developed. We should be promoting agri-forestry rather than the large tracts of monoculture described by Deputy Martin Kenny. There should be incentives to engage in agri-forestry.