Victor Boyhan: Welcomes bill clarity while urging flexible energy support

Thank you Comhairleach and thank you Minister, I welcome you here to the House and I take on board everything that Senator Casey has said and I think he's made it pretty clear. Look I suppose the reality is I welcome the clarity around the Bill, I think that's the important thing. This Bill, to be realistic here, we're a revising chamber, this Bill has been approved by Dáil Éireann, we know the arithmetic, but I suppose in terms of the Government did say there'd be no cliff edge and that's clearly not going to happen so that's good and I welcome that and I suppose really I don't want to take up all of my time here just to say Minister, I want to flag that, you know, agriculture, I sit on the Joint Offices Committee on Agriculture and Food, I'm elected to the Agricultural Panel, I have a huge interest in the horticultural sector, the forestry sector, as well as the broader agricultural sector, but particularly the agri-food sector and you know and I know and everyone in this chamber knows that the agri-sector is very heavily reliant on green diesel but also other forms of energy and diesel itself, so energy is a very significant role and I want to acknowledge the Government's support and commitment to the horticultural sector, they've brought in particular measures to support the sector, particularly around energy and particularly the mushroom production. Mushroom, we have maybe the finest production of mushrooms, if not in the world, we certainly have all over Europe, they're exported all over Europe, it's a very, it's a time-sensitive fresh food product so it's critical that there's no break or delay in the rollover and the turnover of production, but also on salad crops and we need to, we want to grow more food, it is part of the BUD-BS strategy, food vision, also in terms of the Government policy that we continue to expand the growth of salads and vegetable and fruit crops, we know with our climate that there's a need to have a lot of this on the clutches and tunnels and other, other, glass etc etc, so energy is critically important, particularly diesel, to the forestry sector too, it's very reliant on the forestry sector and we have ambitious plans for forestry, we have ambitious plans for agriculture, so fuel is a critical component of that and you will be aware of that significance, you'll also be aware that the IFA have issued a number of calls in recent days again in commentary in relation to these supports, so what I'm asking Minister is, let's keep our antenna up, we've got to be responsive and the Government have to be agile and flexible enough to be able to turn on, up or recalibrate the supports, particularly for this sector that I'm speaking about here today, because it's, there's volatility out there, there's volatility, there's uncertainty in terms of the world order, the impact in terms of oil, so I think that's important, so what I'm saying is look, let's continue to be open to monitor the situation, to be responsive to the needs particularly of this particular sector, as people want as well for the private domestic home sector, that's an important part and you mentioned the retrofit and I think that's really important and we need to expand our ambition for retrofitting, particularly in areas where there was carbon neutral alternatives and last night, and I know Senator Collins was there as a member of the Joint Works Committee of Agriculture and we had a whole thing about hemp and everybody there spoke about the ambition and the science of hemp in terms of insulating our homes and what was really, all parties and none in your party are well represented on the committee, were highly impressed at the possibilities and the options for retrofitting our homes and we know if our homes are properly retrofitted and the supports are put in place for that programme of retrofitting, we can reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and that has to be an ambition for all of us, so I think there were many strands to this but I want to thank you for coming to the house today, I want to thank you for the clarity and of your delivery of your message and really the ask is simple, and I don't really doubt the government in this area but I just want, I think it's important to put it on the record that we are agile, we are nimble, we are flexible in terms of responses but particularly the agriculture, horticulture, the food sector because that's really, really important and also agricultural contractors. Thank you.