Policy

The National Development Plan – Project Ireland 2040 the Government’s €116 billion development plan which is underpinned by a 20 year planning framework, highlights the potential of the circular bioeconomy in promoting the more efficient use of renewable resources while supporting economic development and employment in rural Ireland. As part of Project 2040 the Government published the first National Policy Statement on the Bioeconomy (March 2018). Through this commitment the Government recognises that the bioeconomy is crucial for decarbonisation, sustainability and circularity while also providing an impetus to competiveness and rural and regional development and employment.

The Bioeconomy Implementation Group, which is jointly chaired by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has a mandate to oversee the development of the bioeconomy in Ireland. This Second Progress Report (2023) sets out the progress made since the publication of Ireland’s National Policy Statement (NPS) on the Bioeconomy in May 2018, which laid down the vision, guiding principles and strategic objectives for the successful development of the Bioeconomy in Ireland.