Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

On behalf of the Labour Party, I welcome the long-delayed appearance of the National Oil Reserves Agency Bill 2006. I am glad the senior Minister for the Department has now turned up for this debate. There were gaps in the Minister of State's presentation. My understanding was that the target for national reserves is 120 days by January 2007. That is what the National Oil Reserves Agency informed the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources two or three years ago. According to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, we only have 108 days of reserves. Effectively, a gap of nearly two weeks has appeared on the Minister's watch. I am aware the EU base target is 90 days, but we always felt that 120 days was the target towards which the Government was aiming. We find that the Government has failed in its target for oil reserves.

There is also concern about the make-up of the reserves.

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