Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I completely agree. It is important to address rural prosperity. The bioeconomy affords an opportunity to develop innovative and valuable bio-based products, redistribute incomes and generate jobs and prosperity in rural areas. We have seen examples of this, including the development, through EU funding, of a biorefinery for dairy waste in Lisheen, County Tipperary, and the development of a marine biorefinery in County Monaghan. I mentioned the carbon-neutral demonstration farm in Cork. My Department supports the small-scale grass biorefinery demonstration project in Cork, which makes use of grass in a number of new ways. It is an innovation partnership initiative that is part of the rural development programme.

Agriculture and forestry account for 80% of Irish land use. There are 136,000 family farms and 22,000 private forest owners. The agri-food sector included 1,715 companies at the last count and it employs 173,000 people. That involves a significant social structure, whether it concerns wool or the marine aspects we can explore further to seek to develop additional income for rural areas.

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