Mr. Kevin McPartlan:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Fuels for Ireland. We welcome this discussion on the decarbonisation of transport, a challenge that is both urgent and complex, and one that must be addressed with ambition, pragmatism and pace.

Fuels for Ireland is the national representative body for the companies that import, refine, distribute and sell liquid fuels, whether fossil, advanced, synthetic or biofuel, across the State. Our members supply more than half of Ireland’s total energy needs. As such, we have a central role to play in delivering a successful transition to a low carbon future. That responsibility is one we embrace fully. In 2020, we published our industry’s long-term vision in which we stated unequivocally that fossil fuels cannot be the basis of Ireland’s long-term energy plans or the basis of our industry’s long-term business strategy. That remains our guiding principle.

We are unstinting in our support for increased electrification of transport. Many of our members are among the largest investors in public charging infrastructure, and a greater proportion of forecourts in Ireland now offer EV charging than in any other EU member state. However, we must also confront reality. EV adoption continues to lag behind the targets set out in national plans, and internal combustion engine vehicles will remain a significant part of Ireland’s transport system for many years to come. Reducing emissions from those vehicles is therefore essential if we are to meet our climate commitments. That is why technology neutrality, which means deploying every available solution in parallel, must be at the heart of policy.

Low-carbon liquid fuels, including advanced biofuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, are among the most powerful tools we have to cut emissions quickly and cost-effectively. They are proven, scalable, and compatible with existing vehicles and infrastructure. They can deliver up to 90% life cycle greenhouse gas savings compared with fossil diesel and they can be deployed immediately, not years from now but today in sectors where electrification is not yet practical, such as heavy goods transport, off-road machinery, civil engineering and back-up generation. The same supply chains and the same fuels can also decarbonise Ireland’s home heating sector, which remains one of the most fossil fuel-dependent in Europe.

If we are serious about decarbonising transport, we must remove barriers to the deployment of these solutions. One such barrier is the policy and fiscal environment. Government has repeatedly stated that its priority is to reduce energy costs and ease the cost-of-living burden. Yet, in the next 12 weeks alone, if we include from midnight last night, fiscal measures already enacted will add around 5 cent per litre to the price of transport fuels.

Many of the taxes and levies intended to discourage the use of fossil fuels are also applied to certified low-carbon liquid fuels, including the application of mineral oil tax to fuels that are not mineral oils. This makes little policy sense and undermines the goal we all share. That is why Fuels for Ireland is calling for the establishment of an expert group, led by the Minister for Finance, to examine how taxation and related policies affect fuel prices and whether they align with Ireland’s decarbonisation objectives.

The challenge before us is immense, but the solutions are available. By embracing technology neutrality, accelerating electrification and removing the obstacles that prevent the wider use of low-carbon liquid fuels, Ireland can make rapid, meaningful progress in reducing transport emissions without placing unnecessary burdens on households, businesses or the wider economy. I thank members for their attention. I look forward to engaging with the committee on questions.