Mr. P.J. McCarthy:

We can narrow it down to an Irish context, yes. Looking at the fundamentals here, what is facing us collectively are the environmental challenges and how we deliver. There are a number of key performance indicators, KPIs, that we can look at building in and factoring into monitoring the industry. My colleagues in the AD industry may not fully agree with this but it is important that if we recognise that, as Dr. Frank McGovern from the EPA said that whatever we do, we need to be able to measure. In a recent report, the International Energy Agency stated that the measurement, reporting and verification of emissions is very important. From our perspective, as the joint licensee of the green gas certification scheme in Ireland, which is fully compliant with the renewable energy directive, RED II, and was designed by DENA and DBFZ that subsequently advised the Commission, certifying the sustainability of biomethane production we suggest going a step further and measure the other KPIs in biodiversity, water quality, soil quality and air quality. That can be easily done. Looking at good examples around the likes of Natural England, they also take that extra step. Yes, it costs money, but if we are truly going to stand over what we are doing and what we can deliver, there is a natural step to embrace those measurements. For everyone, including the interests of Ireland Inc. and industry, we need to ensure - and we have a duty and responsibility - to verify measure, and report and be able to stand over our delivery of these KPIs. We can look at supporting the agriculture sector. Teagasc income surveys show that one third of farmers are losing money, one third are breaking even and one third are doing okay. Agriculture is evolving. We can see that from ACRES. The focus is on environmental and delivering those KPIs. We have designed the integrated business case to ensure that the AD technology is complementary to existing farm practices. There is no reason for displacing any current farm family out there. We are looking to build on the opportunities so that they can have an additional diverse income; that it is sustainable and is contributing to the environmental issues and have the sustainable criteria that we require. That is why we are looking at stitching in the opportunities around the bioeconomy.