Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

The figure for penetration of biofuels by the end of 2005 was approximately 0.06%. This will increase to 0.13% by the end of this year and the initiatives announced in the budget will bring us to our target of 2% by 2008. Few member states, approximately ten, have identified targets of more than 2% for 2005. I am supportive of moving this up but we have to create the infrastructure. That is the design of the incentives introduced in the budget, to create the infrastructure and encourage the processing of biofuels and so on.

I am not enamoured of mandatory targets. This one-size-fits-all approach is taken in the EU in various areas and does not take factors such as the size of our market into account. We have the same approach in the energy market generally. I am not sure one can make mandatory targets that should apply across Europe.

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