A TD has called on members of the public in Co. Tipperary to engage on a public consultation with a new bioeconomy development ‘campus’ in the county.
The Lisheen Site Master Plan consultation process is due to be launched by Tipperary County Council in the coming days.
The master plan aims to make the Lisheen area a “centre of excellence” for bioeconomy development.
Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill said: “I have been working for a number of years now on the Lisheen site to ensure that we get employment and investment back into the area. We faced considerable difficulties when Tirlán decided not to progress with the biorefinery on-site a number of years ago.
“At the time, some thought this would be the death knell of the biorefinery project in Lisheen, but I am glad to say that this is most definitely not the case.”
“Thanks to the assistance of Cllr. Seamus Hanafin, Tipperary County Council has fully supported our work to get the Lisheen Bioeconomy Campus back on track. Both Centenary Co-op and Tipperary County Council have invested in the Bioeconomy Campus in Lisheen,” Cahill added.
The Fianna Fáil TD said that he secured €1 million in funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in late 2022 for the development.
According to Cahill, the Lisheen project is also set to secure “considerable investment” under the Just Transition Fund.
The Naringtech BioProducts Campus is currently under construction at Lisheen, and is set to provide 30 jobs when completed.
“Lisheen can and will be the centre of excellence for the Irish bioeconomy and the future development of the circular economy,” Cahill said.
“It can and will play a central role in the reduction of our carbon emissions as a country and I look forward to further developments and investment in this site and growing employment in the area in years to come,” he added.
Bioeconomy Action Plan
The first national Bioeconomy Action Plan was published by government in October of last year.
The plan sets out how the bioeconomy can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the agri-food system.
Speaking at the time, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said that the bioeconomy could replace “fossil-based resources with biological ones, from biofertilisers and biopesticides, to new food sources, bio-plastics and textiles and bio waste management”.
“For the agriculture, food, forest and marine sector, the bioeconomy offers a vast range of new opportunities, new business models, new value chains, and is a key element in the diversification of the sector,” he added.