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Ministers Heydon, O’Brien, and Grealish announce a €10 million fund for projects under the Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative

€10 million for a ‘2025 Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative’ under the EU Just Transition Fund

This will support the development of two bioeconomy pilot and demonstration projects in the 'Designated Territories' of the Midlands, which includes the counties of Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon, and the Municipal Districts of Ballinasloe (Co. Galway), Athy and Clane-Maynooth (Co. Kildare), and Carrick-on-Suir and Thurles (Co. Tipperary)

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD, and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Noel Grealish TD, today announced the opening of a second call for proposals for bioeconomy pilot and demonstration projects under the EU Just Transition Fund.

The bioeconomy involves the use of renewable and sustainable biomass from agriculture and forestry to produce alternative products reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and enhancing resource efficiency. The ‘Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative’ is designed to pilot and demonstrate the ‘bioeconomy in action’ within the designated territories under the fund. The scheme is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the EU Just Transition Fund.

In making the announcement, Minister Heydon stated:

“I am delighted to announce the opening of this €10 million Call for Proposals for Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiatives. The focus of this initiative is to accelerate the commercialisation of bio-based innovation and solutions, such as developing biochar products to promote its use in agriculture and industry, for innovative bio-based food and feed ingredients, for biobased materials for the construction sector and for bio-based value chains for valorisation of sustainable crops. The fund seeks to scale up breakthrough demonstration activities, that will be particularly beneficial for the farming community and for agri-food industries by enabling diversification of value streams, adding value to farm residues, strengthening the role of primary producers in the value chain, and generating new jobs in rural areas."

Minister for the Department of the Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD, commented:

“Investment in the bioeconomy offers a valuable opportunity for Ireland to leverage its natural resources to provide a just transition to a carbon-neutral economy. This initiative aims to empower the Midlands to become a leader in the development of Ireland’s bioeconomy, simultaneously promoting economic growth while reducing carbon emissions and biodiversity loss. I anticipate that the projects funded by the Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative will showcase the diversity and scale of the potential opportunities in this rapidly growing sector”.

Minister of State with special responsibility for Research and Development, Noel Grealish TD, remarked:

“This funding for bioeconomy demonstration initiatives will build on previously funded research and innovation of more than €40 million in the bioeconomy by my Department. With these building blocks now in place, it is critical that we move those bioeconomy innovations from the research lab to scaled up demonstration level. This will help the agri-food system to become more circular, sustainable, and resilient."

The Acting Director of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, Managing Authority of the EU Just Transition Fund, Clare Bannon, said:

“The overarching priority of the fund is to diversify the local economy, which means deploying the resourcefulness of the Midlands, in this case through environmental innovation. The Bioeconomy has the potential to create new high value revenue streams using sustainable materials sourced from the natural environment. This is an important step towards making a sustainable future economically viable”.

Applications must be submitted online through Application Submission Portal - Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine with a closing date of 08.08.2025 at 12pm.

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Full terms and conditions of the scheme are available at the following: 2025 EU Just Transition Fund Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative (Call 2) (www.gov.ie)

About the EU Just Transition Fund, Ireland:

  • The €169 million fund will support communities most negatively affected by the move away from fossil fuels and the cessation of commercial peat extraction.
  • Ireland is set to receive up to €84.5 million from the EU Just Transition Fund over the period to 2027. With the Government of Ireland’s match funding using Exchequer resources, up to €169 million will be available.
  • These 'Designated Territories' include the counties of Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon, and the Municipal Districts of Ballinasloe (Co. Galway), Athy and Clane-Maynooth (Co. Kildare), and Carrick-on-Suir and Thurles (Co. Tipperary).
  • The Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative scheme may support the development of 'Bioeconomy Districts' and 'Living Labs' to support circular bioeconomy value chain development within the Region.
  • The scheme is funded from an allocation of €20 million to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine from the EU Just Transition Fund. There has been an initial call for proposals in 2023 and this is the second call for proposals.
  • There has been two projects funded from the first call for proposals.
  • The Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative Scheme relates to Action JM/23/4 ‘Develop opportunities to unlock the full potential of the bioeconomy in Midlands Region’ in the Climate Action Plan 2023 launched in December 2022.

About the Bioeconomy

  • The bioeconomy is the production, utilization, conservation, and regeneration of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide sustainable solutions (information, products, processes, and services) within and across all economic sectors and enable a transformation to a sustainable economy. Learn more about Ireland’s bioeconomy policy on the Department’s website or watch the Bioeconomy in Action video series.