Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 241: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps she will take to encourage the proliferation of anaerobic digesters to cater for farm waste, improve efficiency, become more eco-friendly and contribute to the energy grid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9343/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme, it is proposed to grant-aid the construction of on-farm waste processing systems, including anaerobic digestion. The details of the proposed Scheme will be established as soon as EU approval is received for the overall Programme.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 242: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the methodology for the disposal of bonemeal or similar products; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9344/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The meat sector in Ireland generates approximately 560,000 tonnes of animal by-products annually, which in turn is rendered into 150,000 tonnes of meat and bone meal (MBM) and 90,000 tonnes of tallow.

The EU ban in November 2000 on the feeding of MBM to cattle had the effect of transforming a product with a high commercial value to a product with significant disposal costs. In the aftermath of the ban all MBM produced in Ireland was either stored in Ireland or the UK or exported to other Member States for incineration or co-incineration in cement or electricity plants. During the period following the MBM feed ban, the Exchequer supported the livestock and meat sectors by subsidising the rendering and destruction of the product (costing €146m between 2001 and 2003), as did most other EU countries.

The costs of dealing with MBM have since been passed back to the industry. The cost has been particularly high for the Irish livestock and meat sectors because of the absence of domestic disposal facilities. Other Member States generally had domestic disposal facilities.

The legislative basis for the control and use of animal by-products including MBM is Regulation (EC) No 1774 of 2002. The Regulation classifies animal by-products into three risk categories, ranging from Category 1 (high risk material, totally excluded from the foodchain) to Category 3 (material fit for human consumption, but not intended for that purpose, which poses little or no risk). The Regulation approves a number of disposal methods for animal by-products, depending on their category. These include incineration or co-incineration for all risk categories. Composting/biogas treatment or incorporation in organic fertilisers is permissible for Categories 2 and 3. In addition, Category 3 can be incorporated in technical products or petfood.

The Regulation also provides for the approval of safe alternative disposal methods, including alkaline hydrolysis, biodiesel production and combustion of animal fat in thermal boilers. The Regulation was transposed in Ireland by S.I. 248 of 2003, as amended by S.I. 707 of 2005 and S.I. 612 of 2006.

Recently, a power plant and a cement company have been examining the possibility of using MBM as a fuel in a co-incineration process with fossil fuels. The cement company has concluded a six-month test programme, during which approximately 6,000 tonnes of MBM was burnt. The test results are currently being reviewed with the EPA and the company is planning to burn up to 50,000 tonnes annually thereafter i.e. about one-third of total Irish annual production levels. The use of MBM in power plants and cement factories would have significant benefits for the industries involved, for the meat industry and for the environment.