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Economic Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2018

Tuesday, 24 April 2018

Ceisteanna (9, 10, 11)

Mary Lou McDonald

Ceist:

9. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national policy statement on the bioeconomy published recently by his Department. [16170/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

10. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Taoiseach the role of his Department in the preparation of the national policy statement on the bioeconomy. [17617/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceist:

11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the national policy statement on the bioeconomy recently published by his Department. [17789/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (7 píosaí cainte)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, together.

The Government believes the bioeconomy can ensure more efficient use of renewable resources and support sustainable economic development and employment in rural Ireland. In simple terms, the bioeconomy involves the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value added products such as food, biopharmaceuticals and bioenergy.

An interdepartmental group, bringing together the Departments and agencies involved in the bioeconomy and chaired by my Department, was established in November 2016. This group carried out a detailed scoping exercise to identify current and potential activities in the area, as well as stakeholder workshops and a public consultation.

Following extensive engagement and consultation, officials in my Department prepared the first national policy statement on the bioeconomy. The Government published the policy statement on 12 March. This delivered on commitments given in the Action Plan for Jobs and the Action Plan for Rural Development.

The Government's vision for the bioeconomy is for Ireland to be a global leader through a co-ordinated approach that fully harnesses Ireland's natural resources and competitive advantages. The statement sets out some guiding principles and several strategic policy objectives aimed at expanding the bioeconomy. It focuses on three pillars, namely, investments in research, innovation and skills; development of markets and competitiveness; and reinforced policy co-ordination and stakeholder engagement.

It seeks also to build on the recently launched Bioeconomy Research Centre funded by Science Foundation Ireland in conjunction with industry investment. The centre will be a catalyst for the future development of the bioeconomy in Ireland. There will also be a focus on availing of funding to the maximum extent possible from the European Commission and combining this with resources from the private sector.

The Government has established an implementation group, jointly chaired by the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Communications, Climate Action and Environment, to ensure there is coherence between all sectoral strategies which impact on the bioeconomy; identify regulatory and other barriers to growth and how these might be overcome; and examine specific opportunities for development.

The group will submit its first report to Government on these matters by the end of 2018 through Cabinet committee A which deals with matters pertaining to the economy, jobs and rural development.

I welcome the publication of this policy statement. I believe climate change mitigation, the promotion of rural employment and driving economic development are all crucial policy objectives and outcomes. However, there is one particular prerequisite to building the bioeconomy which the policy skates over, although, to be fair, it does mention it, namely, enhancing the supply of domestic clean energy sources. This is not only desirable from the perspective of energy security, but is also key to tackling climate change. The national planning framework contains only vague aspirations which give very little clarity on this matter. The plan states that there will be energy research funding into solar and biogas. These are already well established power sources worldwide. We are past the research stage; we need to use them. We need to be very specific about what energy sources will replace fossil fuels. The phasing out of peat is an aspiration, but there is no plan about what will replace it. If it is biomass, we need to plan to promote the indigenous growing of biomass to become an industry in the midlands to replace the peat industry. Currently, Bord na Móna imports biomass from across the globe to burn with peat. Why is this not being adequately promoted in Ireland?

I welcome the statement as one of aspiration. However, we are coming late to the party and the statement is somewhat general and lacking in specific detail. We need to move to real projects and investment which will make this a reality. Biological waste is a resource but we are not using it while doing things that militate against it. Building a huge incinerator in Dublin, for example, militates against developing a circular economy and a bioeconomy. Why develop a bio and circular economy - a sustainable economy - when there is a big incinerator where one can just burn everything? That militates against it. Cities such as London, Paris and Munich have all discovered that privatising waste collection and recycling services does not help develop sustainable circular economies and bioeconomies, which is why those three cities have taken waste and recycling back into public ownership. We see from waste companies, the factor that dictates what they will or will not recycle is whether something is profitable, not whether it is good for developing a sustainable, circular economy and a recycling industry. We need to take those services back into public ownership, as those cities have done.

Finally, if we are going to develop biorefining, biomass and so on, we must dramatically increase forest cover in this country, which is currently pathetic.

It would be very helpful if the Taoiseach could give a simple explanation so that people can understand what fancy terms such as bioeconomy mean. I expect most people do not have a clue. Perhaps people studying science at an advanced level, whether for the leaving certificate or in college would understand it.

Regarding the future of Bord na Móna, the way people in Ireland use turf is changing dramatically. It involves major economic and social pressures in rural areas, yet Fine Gael has given no indication of what it sees as the future for Bord na Móna. Over the past three or four decades, Bord na Móna has shown a very considerable capacity to change and workers have shown a capacity to co-operate with change. However, the Government has no vision of how this will happen. The Lisheen mine has come to the end of its life and been abandoned. That is in a rural part of Tipperary. Will the Taoiseach indicate in simple language, whether in English or Irish, what vision, if any, Fine Gael and the Government has for a bioeconomy at Lisheen?

The best definition of a bioeconomy is that it relates to the maximising of the use of renewable biological resources to produce value added products such as food and bioenergy. It extends across a range of sectors and disciplines, from what can be seen as quite traditional sectors such as farming and agrifood, as well as energy suppliers, to novel protein production and biopharmaceuticals. It is about using advances in technology to put renewable biological resources, including those which might previously have been discarded as by-products of waste, back into productive use. Biological resources could mean things such as crops, forest, fish, animals and their by-products, micro organisms and also industrial feed stock resources such as solid waste and wastewater. I hope that is in straightforward enough language to satisfy Deputies.

On the Government's actions, much of this is set out well in Project Ireland 2040. A decision to stop burning coal at Moneypoint in 2025 will see Ireland become one of the first countries in the world to take coal off its grid as a source of fuel. Between now and then, a decision will have to be made on what will replace it. It might be natural gas, which is a fossil fuel but is considered a transitional fuel in moving away from heavy carbon fuels, or it might be biomass. We must bear in mind that biomass must be largely imported and there are costs associated with that, including environmental costs where it has been transported over large distances. It could also displace other agriculture in Ireland, so we must consider that one consequences of growing more biomass in Ireland is that we have to grow less of other things.

We decided that, as of next year, the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann will no longer buy vehicles for their fleets other than low or no emission vehicles. Peat will continue to be used as long as the public service obligation exists but we envisage that it will also come off the grid in time. We have indicated that in 2030, we will end the sale of diesel and petrol cars, preparing for their replacement by electric vehicles and other vehicles. As part of Project Ireland 2040, we have also committed to electrifying some of our busier existing train lines which will help to decarbonise our transport system.

Forestry was mentioned. It is correct that forest cover in Ireland is much lower than in other European countries but it has also increased considerably in recent decades as a result of the forestry programme. We have indicated that the forestry programme will continue and there will be a new programme on the completion of the current programme. Forestry acts as both a carbon sink as well as creating rural employment and, if managed correctly, can benefit tourism. We have also indicated the establishment of the climate action fund, a fund of over €500 million to support innovation in the area.

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