Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I will attempt to answer the questions asked by Deputies Doyle and Sheehan. I agree with Deputy Doyle that this issue must be addressed in the round. That is the reason there is interdepartmental co-operation on the matter. It was predicted, in terms of my briefing here today, that we might end up speaking about greener home schemes, heating programmes and so on. There is a list we could cover in terms of variable overlapping and interdepartmental responses to the challenges of energy security and climate change, of which this issue is a small part. However, the Government is determined to grow this sector given our very low base in terms of bioenergy in this country.

The €6 million allocation in grant assistance has gone to 13 projects under the stimulus programme for this area. This, it is hoped, will give rise to further opportunities in co-operation with Teagasc in regard to the production of biomass at the Oak Park crops research centre. Along with supporting existing practise, research is being undertaken as we need to, as Deputy Sheehan stated, broaden our work in this area. We are speaking in this regard of coppicing for which willow, along with other tree species, is suitable. While we are talking about coppicing, we are also looking at other areas. Research is being done in the case of bamboo, for example. That has not been covered yet, but it may well come on stream if it is shown to produce a good return. We all know that Ireland is good at growing trees. We need to explore this area further.

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