Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

A study on sugar beet is currently underway and I would be foolish to comment on that. As regards rapeseed oil, I recently visited a plant in Carlow where I saw it being processed on an experimental basis. Every area is being looked at. Willow and miscanthus grass growing is the way forward. I do not believe there will be any increase in funding in this regard. The Minister has a job to do in terms of the manner in which the Department is run. We must ensure that every sector of agriculture is growing and that we fund to the best of our ability the people at the coalface who are being asked to get involved in willow and miscanthus growing. This is a crucial year. We must seek to stabilise the acres we are growing, get the refit tariff in place and convince local authorities, hospitals and other institutions that use a great deal of heat to consider moving away from oil. I referred earlier to local authorities using local fuels, namely pellets or timber, to produce their own heat. This is the way forward. The more energy we can provide within our own system the better for everybody. Also, thousands of jobs can be generated in this sector.

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