Mr. P.J. McCarthy:

On learning for developing the strategy to develop the industry, I have a presentation from back in 2019 from the DG for Agriculture and Rural Development that advocates the opportunities for the biomethane sector from an agriculture and CAP perspective. The single biggest advantage is we are informed, we understand what is happening with policy and legislation and we can represent the Irish interest across agriculture, transport, manufacturing and processing. We can understand from the lessons learned by colleagues around the table what is working and what is not. Some of the board members are from Italy, France and Germany.

We are across the table from representatives who are looking at the lessons being learned in Germany from its approach. The AD plants are too small. They use very valuable primary energy to produce expensive electricity. Changing the whole strategy on AD bioplants is being considered to produce biomethane. Italy has a fantastic support scheme and a good platform that supports the industry around Consorzio Italiano Biogas, CIB, which is coming up with a programme to promote how biogas can be done right. That involves communities, farmers, the supply chain and right the way through, as we have discussed. In our engagement through the Biomethane Industrial Partnership, which is the joint secretariat with the Commission and the EBA, we are learning the support regimes in place in the past, be it in Germany, the UK or France, are now all moving under RED II to implement Article 23, which is the renewable heat obligation scheme. It is the most cost-effective way and an enduring solution to supporting the price gap between producing biomethane and the price of natural gas.