Ms Laura Behan:

I thank the Chairman. Together with my colleague from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, we hope to be able to address for the committee the issues and concerns that arise for Ireland in considering this legislative proposal.

This proposed directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure was published at the end of January. To provide some background to the development of this proposal, the European Commission's March 2011 White Paper, the Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area, called for a reduction in the dependence that transport places on oil supply and set targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 60% by 2050. In the White Paper, the Commission announced it would develop "a sustainable alternative fuels strategy, including the appropriate infrastructure" and provide "guidelines and standards for refuelling infrastructures".

Concerned by the slow attainment of alternative fuels infrastructure across the EU, the Commission considers that, along with the lack of common technical standards, this represents a major obstacle to the market introduction of alternative fuels. It has, therefore, developed a proposal for a directive which aims to deliver a build-up of alternative fuels infrastructure conforming to common technical standards so as to facilitate a quicker transition to cleaner transport.

The proposal contains mandatory requirements for the extent and coverage of alternative fuels infrastructure for transport and also common technical standards for their construction and interoperability. The main alternative fuel options that could replace oil as the primary fuel source for both road and maritime transport are identified as electricity, hydrogen, bio-fuels and natural gas in the forms of compressed natural gas, CNG, liquefied natural gas, LNG, or gas-to-liquid, GTL, and liquefied petroleum gas, LPG.

The draft directive would require member states to adopt and publish national policy frameworks for the market development of electric, hydrogen, bio-fuels and natural gas refuelling infrastructure. Member states would be required to co-operate with one another, either through consultations or joint policy frameworks, to ensure measures would be coherent and co-ordinated.

To assess fully the implications of these proposals for both transport and energy infrastructure investment, consultations within our two Departments and with key stakeholders have commenced or more will be undertaken shortly. However, based on our initial assessment of the proposals, the Irish Government position could be summarised as follows. In matters such as common standards, action at an EU level will be required to ensure market harmonisation and acceptance of refuelling equipment by users across the EU and, therefore, the technical common standards should be supported. It is also the case that strong action will be necessary if Ireland and the EU are to achieve overall greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. This proposal will set minimum requirements for alternative fuels infrastructure across the EU and it is likely that EU-wide targets such as this would give increased reassurance to car manufacturers and investors in making the long-term investment required to speed up the shift to lower emission vehicles.

Mindful of the need to ensure measures are proportionate and cost-effective, however, the role of national policymakers in setting targets within individual member states needs to be considered further.

While the targets for CNG refuelling points and electric vehicle charge points do not appear at this stage to be overly onerous, careful consideration is required as to how these targets could be met and how and by whom they would be financed. Additionally, there are no LNG facilities in Ireland and practical implications, including the associated high costs of the proposed obligation, require further analysis. Consideration will also be required as to whether there should be flexibility in the directive for member states to amend targets to reflect technological and market developments that may take place over the period concerned.

Discussions on this file have commenced under strong Commission impetus, although they remain at a very early stage. Only one meeting of the working party on intermodal questions and networks was devoted to it prior to the transport Ministers exchange of initial views on the proposal last week at Council. Although very preliminary and caveated by transport Ministers, given the very recent publication of the proposals and the essential consultations between transport and energy Ministries on national implications, the tone of contributions was generally very supportive of developing the market for alternative fuels in the EU with a great deal of caution expressed, however, regarding the imposition of binding national targets for refuelling infrastructure networks.