Ms Julie O'Neill:

That raises a wide range of other issues. I do not want to comment on the policies of other countries with which I am not familiar. If one is importing from very long distances, the carbon footprint of what one is importing is growing because of the transportation costs. One needs to begin to think what one is doing to the environments in those countries from which one is importing. One of the points I made about the pragmatic approach and about balancing different policy objectives is that clearly the mandate of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland is around, specifically, sustainable energy. To the greatest extent possible, our sustainable energy goals should complement our employment goals, our energy security goals, our opportunities for innovation and a host of other policy objectives. I would like to see those synergies. As an island nation, the more we can reduce our dependence on imported fuels and, in particular, imported fossil fuels, the greater our energy security and the greater the potential for job creation. The benefit in terms of job creation from biomass is far more significant if it is home grown rather than if it is imported.