The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food has called for more community involvement in the National Biomethane Strategy Implementation Group.

The committee believes that by including local stakeholders in the group it will "foster engagement" on anaerobic digestion (AD) developments.

This is among 12 recommendations contained in a new report on the indigenous AD sector published by the committee yesterday (Tuesday, June 30).

The report followed a series of public meetings between the committee and various stakeholders, including industry representatives and the National Biogas Concern Group, during October 2025.

The Programme for Government includes a target to produce 5.7 tera watt hours (TWh) of biomethane here by 2030.

Biomethane

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Aindrias Moynihan said that the evidence to the committee "demonstrated broad support for AD as part of Ireland's renewable energy transition".

However, he noted that "clear concerns" were raised around how such developments are planned, regulated, and integrated into communities.

"The committee stresses that addressing issues such as site location, environmental monitoring, enforcement, and community engagement will be central to securing public confidence and ensuring the sustainable growth of the biomethane sector," he said.

Deputy Moynihan added that this report comes "at a time of a global energy crisis, the impacts of which are currently being felt now and into the foreseeable future".

"An indigenous anaerobic digestion sector to produce bio-methane gas can contribute as part of the solution to reduce Ireland’s dependency on imported energy, while acknowledging the sector has yet to be developed to scale.

"The development of the sector can also contribute to the production of indigenous fertiliser, again reducing Ireland’s dependency on imported sourced fertilisers," he said.

Committee report

In its recommendations, the committee called for the enactment of the Renewable Heat Obligation (RHO) Bill, including long-termprojections for the RHO scheme.

The committee urges progress on national planning guidelines and regulations for AD plants.

In addition, it called for a review into the challenges for obtaining necessary statutory licenses for a grid connection and the significant costs involved.

The report calls for a target to be set for maximum gas emission from AD plants, along with a monitoring mechanism.

The committee urged "caution against the use of excessive grass-based inputs for AD plants which could be otherwise used to feed livestock".

"The excessive use of grassbased inputs to produce biomethane will negatively impact on feed available for livestock, thus undermining Ireland’s efforts to maintain food security," the report said.

Engagement

The committee expressed concern that there is "no statutory guidance requiring engagement with communities in relation to the potential development of biomethane plants and infrastructure".

It recommended that as part of a planning application for an AD development, a "detailed community and stakeholder engagement plan" should be published.

The report also calls for legislation on ReNure to be tranposed. This would allow certain types of processed manure –specifically, digestate from AD plants that has undergone further treatment – to be classified as a chemical fertiliser rather than organic manure.

In line with the National Biomethane Strategy, the committee also called for options to be explored for the development of a grant to fund small scale farm led AD developments.