Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I want to address a number of points. We will answer each of them in our own good time. Whether there is sufficient time tonight I do not know. I have spent most of my time today dealing with issues regarding climate change. Over the last few weeks I have met with the cement industry, with Eco Cement and Century Homes. Today I met representatives of the insurance industry. Climate change has arrived and we must feel it. We cannot avoid the issue, put our heads in the sand and act like the Fianna Fáil backbenchers who were totally inane as regards the silly points they made. This is the most important debate we could have in this House for the next generation. It will take a generation to escalate the momentum to reverse the climate change that has already occurred. It has taken 150 years to produce the present-day situation where the temperature is 20°C higher than it was before the industrial revolution.

We must row back as much as we can. Fine Gael has a coherent planned policy on this. We support the aspirations in the Green Party Bill. It is an aspirational rather than a line by line critique that we offer tonight. Nonetheless, we are in favour of the debate and we welcome the Green Party's input. This year's Estimates provide a figure of €20 million to the OPW for flood relief. That is totally inadequate. Flood relief is necessitated by the impact of climate change that gives rise to flooding in places such as Clonmel and Kilkenny. In Kilkenny alone the Bill for last year effectively was €45 million to meet the insurance calamity that occurred there. The reality is that there will be a series of increasingly extreme weather conditions. One day, unfortunately, the hurricanes that currently head over to America will be crossing Europe and perhaps affecting us as well. This is the reality and it must be faced.

We in Fine Gael believe we must play our part. The removal of all excise duties on biofuels produced from renewable energy crops is crucial. This will drive down costs and entice more players into the marketplace. We urgently need establishment grants for producer groups, comprising up to 50% of the costs of setting up, subject to a maximum of €300,000 per group.

A public competition for the establishment and operation of a number of biofuel processing plants, strategically located in a selected number of areas, should be put in place. Capital start-up grants for these processing plants should be given initially to enable them to become established and begin viable operations. Greater links are needed with international biofuel processors and fuel suppliers and the relevant Departments, especially the Departments of Transport and Agriculture and Food, must facilitate the promotion of such an industry in Ireland. We believe a market must be created for biofuels, but production cannot flourish if there is no market for what is being produced. Fine Gael says clearly that we must legislate for all motor fuels to be included in a blend of fuel from renewable sources.

All petrol sold at filling stations will include a 5% bioethanol mix and all diesels contain a 2% biodiesel mix. This will not necessitate the conversion of standard motor engines and will represent a good start to reducing emissions from cars. It will provide an immediate market for farmers to sell energy crops. As the benefits become clearer, motorists may move to convert their engines to allow for greater use of biofuel, thus reducing emissions further. We want an eco-friendly economically sensible approach to vehicle registration tax. To do this we will establish a system of energy efficiency labelling for vehicles and reward those that get a higher rating with a reduced rate of VRT. Similarly, vehicles with a lower rate of efficiency will be penalised with a higher rate of VRT. We cannot allow a situation to evolve, as it has in the United States, where more people drive gas-guzzling, road-hogging SUVs, squeezing out smaller, smarter and more efficient vehicles in the process.

There must, too, be a much greater debate about jobs. The Minister is entering a very sensitive and important period in terms of allocations as regards emissions trading before Christmas. It is a critical time for this country, for jobs, the cement industry and all those industries that have been mentioned. It is essential to have a proper and full debate and that the Minister makes the right decision. We must change. We must keep the jobs as well, however, and the right balance must be struck. Part of that debate will take place tonight, hopefully, and at our committee meeting in the near future. We cannot stick our heads in the sand any longer and pretend it is not going to happen. It is happening all around us now. We must be practical, realistic and sensible in the choices we make. Fine Gael fully supports the aspirations in this Bill and we await the Minister's response.

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