The Government recognises that indigenous renewable energy plays a vital role in our domestic fuel mix and will become even more important in the context of reducing our reliance on imported fuels and in meeting our challenging renewable energy targets. My Department is committed to working closely with the Department for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, which is the lead Department in this area, to ensure that the supply of domestic fuels available in the forest and agriculture sectors are mobilised to support energy generation from a range of bioenergy technologies. Anaerobic Digestion is one of the technologies included for support in the proposed Support Scheme for Renewable Heat announced by my colleague Minister Naughten late last year.
My Department, under a previous Development Plan, included a pilot scheme funding the installation of anaerobic digesters on ten Irish Farms. Two projects were completed and a further project has been given extensions to undertake the work by mid 2018, with the extension for a further project currently being considered. While the pilot scheme was not extended, the current Rural Development Programme is directly targeted at supporting environmental actions to assist farmers in meeting climate change responsibilities. The RDP 2014-2020 will deliver funding of some €4 billion to the agricultural sector and rural areas generally over the lifetime of the Programme. The Programme’s content and design was formulated in light of previous experience and performance and reflects the outcome of extensive stakeholder consultation. Examples of environmental actions supported in the RDP include supports for Renewable Heat technologies in the form of supports for biomass boilers under the Pig and Poultry Investment Scheme (PPIS) and the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme (YFCIS). Air-source heat pumps are also supported under PPIS and YFCIS schemes and they may be used as part of a water heater under the Dairy Equipment Scheme. Grant aid is also available under PPIS and YFCIS schemes for solar panels used for electricity production (photovoltaic) and water heating that are permanently erected to buildings used for pig, poultry and egg production.
In terms of future policy, I opened a public consultation process on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post 2020 on Friday 26 January 2018 for an eight-week period and am also holding a series of six public meetings to consider the future of the CAP. These submissions and views will play an important role in feeding into the Irish position in the negotiations to come.
