Mr. Tim Cullinan:

I thank the Deputy for the question. The Deputy's first comment was on the experience in Germany of crops going to anaerobic digestion. There was an initiative in the 1990s or early 2000s to grow crops to generate energy. The initiative was taken on by the German Government at the time. We see where we are in Europe now and it is very important that we reflect on it. A new proposal, the REPowerEU plan, is being launched by the Commission to repower the EU. There is an important debate to be had on growing crops to produce energy and to produce food. We have a limited land resource. There is a balance. We can do both. We have grasslands in Ireland. As I have already said on numerous occasions, we are an excellent country at producing food. There may be some extensive farms that can produce more grass. This is also important.

An issue I would like to raise, although perhaps it is slightly off the agenda, is that we are in a critical situation throughout the world because of the Russian war in Ukraine. There is concern about supply in the short term. The proposals we are speaking about will not be initiated before the end of the year. My concern is whether we will have enough energy, gas and oil to keep the lights on over the coming winter. This is very important, particularly for the Deputies and Senators present. It needs to be raised in the Houses of the Oireachtas to ensure we can keep the lights on over the coming winter. It is a very important point. My colleague, Ms O'Sullivan, would like to make a quick comment.