Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

Ireland's bio-fuels obligation will be introduced in 2009 and I intend to embark on extensive consultations with relevant sectors over the coming months about its implementation. The details of the measure must be carefully drafted to maximise the benefit to the economy and the environment. The public consultation will, therefore, include discussions with the traditional fuel and emerging bio-fuel sectors, as well as discussions with the farming and waste-processing sectors.

The introduction of the bio-fuels obligation is one of the principal decisions of the seven Ministers who participated in the ministerial bio-energy task force, which I established in July 2006. It is the culmination of several months of discussion and analysis and is part of the Government's approach to the development of the bio-energy sector. It was also signalled strongly in the Green Paper on energy and I intend to publish the report of the White Paper over the coming weeks.

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