Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I admire the Minister's tenacity in not changing his view. I have thought about this matter and believe we on this side of the House were not trenchant enough on the last occasion we discussed it. It is wrong not to mention biofuels. What is wrong with storing them as part of our reserves? Why should specific mention not be made of the need to develop and store biofuels, particularly if we are to achieve what is set out in the Green Paper, which I hope will ultimately change colour, and in our proposals of more than a year ago? The Minister is right that there are approximately 100 applications for the development of various biofuel plants and we should therefore recognise biofuels in the Bill in the context of storage.

There is no reason compelling the Minister to include excise duty. The Minister for Finance has already made an exclusion in respect of a certain number of litres of biofuel. This is in order and can be done at all times. After all, it is the Minister for Finance who does this in any event at budget time. I ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to think again about the storage provisions so as to encourage the development of biofuels. Ireland is 90% dependent on imported fuels and the only country in Europe with a huge hill to climb in this regard. To miss out on an opportunity to include a specific reference to biofuels is deplorable and I ask the Minister to consider what he can do about this. Including such a reference would improve the Bill considerably and would mean those involved in the production of biofuels would be treated appropriately. Now is the time to include the reference in the Bill.

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