Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Reference was made to the competition in land use between energy crops and food crops. There is no interest on the part of farmers in going down the route of energy crops required for bio-fuels and, therefore, they are deciding that pasture land and so on is a priority. Considering our targets for the use of bio-fuels and where we get the necessary crops from, that means we will have to go outside the jurisdiction. How far do we go? At that point, we are increasing our carbon footprint by importing such crops to blend bio-fuels.

In east Africa, people who were growing food crops through coercion on the part of authorities or for whatever reason are now growing energy crops but that means they are not being fed. Are we going to pursue our bio-fuel targets without due regard to that issue? In addition, those crops are being transported to Europe. Has cognisance been taken of that issue, which has been raised by aid and voluntary organisations abroad who witness on the ground the devastation being created by us pursuing that policy?

The transport sector is the most challenging. While I welcome the improvements in public transport, provision is not a reality in rural Ireland. While the main improvements in rural Ireland have been east-west or to the main centres of population, those journeys can still be a considerable distance, people would have a diminished lifestyle if they did not get into a car because of the poor public transport system. Cycling is impossible and the other initiatives being pursued will have a limited impact on people sitting into their cars. The problem with the use of oil, particularly for transport, bearing in mind the cost of batteries and the lack of confidence in the distances to be travelled in rural Ireland, will not be overcome unless there is a realistic alternative when one goes to a forecourt to fill up. That is why I am interested in gas-based vehicles as at least an interim measure. I understand that in the US there are proponents of a device that can be fitted on any vehicle for €100 to allow it to be modified to use either fuel. Is that being considered to be made mandatory in the State or has it been examined to give people an alternative?

As we strive to reduce carbon emissions, we are going to diminish people's quality of life, particularly in lower socioeconomic groups, who find they have to pay carbon taxes but they have no public transport alternative or they cannot afford to change their heating system. They are limited in what they can do. We should temper anything we attempt to do with the reality that faces the ordinary person who is struggling.