Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to speak on this issue for two reasons, namely, because I am Fine Gael spokesperson on agriculture and because I am from the west. With petrol prices creeping towards 125 cent per litre and with the associated impact on electricity and gas costs, many jobs in the west and in the northwest are under threat, unless serious action is taken to develop alternative energy sources. The west and north west are the most vulnerable regions because most of our employment is based on primary production or manufacturing, which is the sector most vulnerable to price increases for energy. Unless the Government is prepared to acknowledge that a problem exists and adopts the principles outlined in this motion, there will be significant job losses in the west and the northwest. In this scenario, jobs will migrate to lower-cost locations in other parts of the world.

We are in the most exposed region in the country and we do not have adequate energy sources. We should try to develop combined heat and power sources in the region, as well as developing the woodchip and renewable energy sector, yet none of that has happened. We do not have gas pipelines, nor do we have the basic electricity infrastructure in place and the cost of that is a serious threat to many jobs.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food stated that the Mallow sugar factory will attract 75% of the compensation that may be made available through the sugar reforms. Can the farming community receive the maximum level of compensation available to it if the plant in Mallow is retained for the processing of bioethanol? The Minister states that the regulations are in place, but the reality is that the regulations have not yet come from Brussels. There is still an opportunity to impress on the Commission the need to ensure that there is flexibility for that compensation, that farmers get the maximum level possible and that we develop an alternative industry based on those plants. There is an onus on the Minister to impress on the Commission the need to look at the rules, to ensure that there are no barriers to the development of an alternative fuel industry. The proposals, as they stand at the moment, are a barrier to the development of a bioethanol facility here.

Deputy Fiona O'Malley raised a point about excise duty on biofuels. She stated that there are problems with implementing it, such as changing the legislation to blend 2% of biodiesel and 5% of bioethanol into petrol and diesel. There are no problems with it, but the difficulty is that every time a proposal is made, the Government finds a way to put a barrier against the development of the renewable energy sector. There is an easy solution to the problem of imports from Brazil, namely, to put duty on all imported fuels. Fuel created in Ireland from renewable energy sources can be exempt from duty if duty is put on fuels at the point of entry. That would solve the problem, but the Government is not prepared to consider addressing problems, it would prefer to come up with more of them.

Fine Gael has published a practical and realistic blueprint for renewable energy. There are two strands to it. The first is to create demand and we have outlined some of those proposals in the motion before the House. The second strand is to create capacity, especially in the area of biofuels, by encouraging the establishment of producer groups, in which farmers and private industry could put forward proposals for the development of alternative processing facilities. We would encourage a public competition for farmers and the private sector to develop such proposals, which could be grant-aided. I commend this motion to the House.

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