The industry would produce 18 Gigawatt hours of renewable gas and reduce carbon emissions by almost 5,000 tonnes a year.

The CHO8 area, incorporating Roscommon currently has a 42% refusal rate, an increase from 35% last year.

It comes as a recent National Transport Authority report outlines a local 24% decrease of taxis since the last decade.

The Education Minister is considering the move after the recent spate of road deaths involving young people, including the summer tragedies in Monaghan and Clonmel.

Western counties continue to see the largest number of vacant properties with Roscommon and Leitrim recording levels over 16 percent.

The Brosnan report has examined the latest CSO figures in order to determine how much each counties' businesses are spending on energy costs.

Nationally, as of last year, there were over 1,012,287 children aged under 15 in Ireland.

Two motorists were caught speeding on the M6 Glen Athlone in Westmeath, one travelling at 131km/h and another at 144km/h in a 120km/h zone.