Mr. Eugene Drennan:

The rebates in different countries are pitched at different prices but at the end of the day, they all came back to the $300 per tonne. That is the sacrosanct line in the sand for the European Union. It is still up to the State here to interpret that. It could be flexed out even a little bit further. The Deputy asked how far is Ireland behind. It is approximately 19 cent at present Holland and Belgium, in the centre of Europe, have a very high rebate.

Italy, Spain and France all also have rebates. It is around their pump price, how they want to sell the price to the public and how they want to keep their essential supply line going. From where we are pitched, we would need a rebate of 26 to 28 cent per litre, or something in that bracket, to match them. It is achievable and we have put the proposal that we would wrap it in the green agenda, decarbonisation, modernisation of the fleet and all of that in a short timeline and keep the State or us from being censured. We have made entreaties to different people to alleviate the carbon emissions at the port, which is an area I went into before and so will not go into again. That is how it will work. It is a recognised mathematical equation that we worked out with the Department some years ago. The system works and is accredited by Revenue. You have to have a tax-free certificate to get on it. It has to be for licensed haulage and you have to submit your details every three months to get it back. If you fall outside the parameters of the mathematics, they are on to you and you will have an inspection quickly. The template is there, it works well and we can put further supplements into that and have safeguards for the State.