Mr. Declan Murray:

One thing that we clearly found out early on was that we were the only gig in town in that neck of the country. It had never been done before. No one had ever heard of it before. There was a fear factor and question of what these people are going to do. Now we have the plant and we have never closed its gates. Any local school, business, or anyone who wants to come to see our plant is welcome and we tell them to come on down. It is an educational process. We probably have someone call into us every week. There is a visit next Tuesday. The other benefits to the community relate to how we can integrate ourselves into the community and what having a plant there means for that. If we take something as simple as protecting jobs in Aurivo, for example, it is looking at how it can cut its costs and become more profitable. All its dairy byproduct was going to Kildare. It is now all coming to us. It is cheaper for Aurivo and we are getting more use out of it. It is then going back to local farmers as digestate.

One of the things which we are constantly looking at is how we can get involved in what the local community is doing. We are not spending a huge fortune of money. We do some sponsorship for the local men's shed and for local schools. Generally, it is an educational process and the more people we can get to see what we do the better. One of the things that I keep saying to people when they talk about noise and smell is that with anaerobic digestion, the clue is in the name. There is no air; it is sealed. If I have air, I have a much bigger problem than anyone who has a smell. I would have a big €20 million problem at that stage.