Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This plan is further clear evidence of the Government’s commitment to investing in the economy and getting us over the Covid pandemic. The first issue I raise relates to the major plantation of trees on 33,000 ha of Bord na Móna land. This will be a great asset in our battle to reduce emissions and against climate change. I hope the carbon sequestered will be fully counted when we are calculating our figures in the context of our battle to reduce emissions. I hope licences will be issued more easily than they are to ordinary farmers at the moment in forestry and that there will not be a delay in the issuing of licences in respect of these trees, as we are all experiencing at the moment, unfortunately.

There is a projection to invest €20 million in waste water treatment upgrades, with ten plants targeted by the plan. Unfortunately, I do not think that is nearly enough. Waste water treatment plants throughout the country need significant upgrades and, unfortunately, a number of small towns and villages have no such facilities. If we are serious about water quality, we need very significant investment in waste water treatment, but €20 million is nowhere near adequate. I hope this can be reviewed and revised upwards because it is a serious challenge we are facing, and this kind of money will not go anywhere near meeting it.

We need a pilot scheme for dealing with farm slurry and waste in general. Advanced technology offers modern ways to deal with slurry. It has the potential to create energy and a by-product of the process can be used as an organic fertiliser on farmland. This would be very useful technology in our battle to reduce emissions from the agrifood sector, and I do not see any specifics on that in the plan. A total of 37% of the plan is devoted to our battle against climate change. Why is there no such pilot project in the plan? The technology is available and we can use it without hindering production at farm level. If we properly embrace the available modern technology, we can win our battle to reduce emissions. I hope that when we see greater detail, a pilot project for dealing with both farm and municipal waste will be included in the plan.

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