John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask Mr. Cogan not to take this the wrong way but, in terms of some of the presenters, he should be the poor relation in regard to us taking this ethanol seriously. His contribution was very interesting, although he does not cite evidence for it. While I do not want to take up the time of the committee, there are a number of assertions in his presentation in respect of which I would ask him to forward the evidence to back them up.

It is a very sobering point. I know palm oil is a big issue with schoolchildren because of the manner in which it is extracted and the labour that is used. Mr. Cogan has illustrated very well the poor response of the country in meeting the challenges facing us. Most of the incentives for changes in transport, for example, electric vehicles, are for people who have quite a lot of disposable income. I drive a diesel car and I cannot afford an electric car, like hundreds of thousands of people, because the incentive kicks in after the car is bought as opposed to before. I would love to take up the idea of ethanol, mix my fuel and contribute my part in that sense.

Mr. Cogan's figures are staggering. Some 280,000 new vehicles came into the country in 2018 and just one in 70 of those was electric. In addition, we have the whole issue with the roll-out of charging points, and I believe we need to hang our heads in shame in this regard. Nonetheless, there is the issue of affordability and, despite what is said in some of the contributions that will come later, namely, that electric vehicles are becoming cheaper, they are far out of the reach of most ordinary people. I believe a real variety of offerings need to be put before people. I know electric is the way we are going but companies like Toyota are making huge advances with hydrogen. I picture a country in 2027 or 2028 with e-charging points every mile and where hydrogen has become the norm. I do not think we are innovative enough, inventive enough and dynamic enough and we are not ballsy enough not to put all our eggs in one particular basket.

I would like the following points substantiated. Mr. Cogan says it will be several years before diesel and petrol reach their peak and we may expect hundreds of thousands more diesel and petrol car on the roads. Ethanol is not a topic that would excite everybody but Mr. Cogan threw in so many interesting statistics that he is the person I wanted to focus on.