176. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration will be given to ensuring that the new biomethane capital grant programme provides support for farm-scale biogas plants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52204/26]

Overall national energy policy formation is the direct responsibility of my colleague Minister Darragh O’Brien in the Department of Climate Energy and the Environment (DCEE). My Department works closely with DCEE on energy related matters from an agricultural perspective, as well as with a wide range of industry and other stakeholder groups.

As the Deputy is aware, my Department co-led the development of the National Biomethane Strategy which was published in 2024. This was Ireland’s first major policy statement on Biomethane and was first and foremost Agri-centric.

Upon publication of the Strategy, my Department also announced it had secured funding for a capital grant under REPowerEU and this was made available to kickstart an agri-led Biomethane industry. Applicants proposing to produce Biomethane from agricultural feedstocks were eligible to apply for this initial capital funding, as a key aim of the initial grant support was to develop an agri-led AD sector.

The strategy highlighted the importance of farm scale AD plants for the sector and my Department has engaged with Ireland’s Strategic Investment Fund over a potential model for smaller scale AD. As part of these engagements, my Department has funded research to demonstrate the viability of smaller on-farm AD plants.

Another project my Department has funded is an EIP Small Biogas Demonstration Programme which is a farm-based project in Galway and led by IrBEA.

Funding of up to €200 million for the second round of capital grants has been secured by DCEE as part of the National Development Plan’s Sectoral Capital Plan for 2026-2030 and will be available to support the development of anaerobic digestion plants in Ireland from 2026.

DCEE is currently in the initial stages of putting this second capital grants scheme in place and my Department is continuing to engage and support this work. The agricultural sector will continue to play a central role in the development of the Biomethane sector in Ireland with the capacity to provide the necessary feedstocks to deliver the ambition set out in the National Climate Action Plan.