Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

I would be happy to see the Minister for Agriculture and Food answering this question but responsibility for bio-fuels falls within the remit of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. In keeping with the Government's approach to joined-up thinking, the production of bio-fuels has a value for agriculture. The Minister for Agriculture and Food made announcements recently about start-up grants and grants for energy-related crops, all of which are designed to feed into a bio-fuels industry. If I understood the Deputy correctly, there is a link between the bio-fuels and farming. Growing energy crops such as miscanthus, willow and rape seed will offer a new source of income for farmers. The Government's policies on bio-fuels attempt to build up that industry, encourage farmers to change practices and sow particular crops for that industry.

Through the mineral oil tax relief scheme we have encouraged people to set up refineries to put the bio-fuels in place. The talk about bio-fuels may be positive from a farmer's point of view but not so from other people's point of view. If people must compete for wheat, maize, rape seed oil or sugar beet for bioethanol or other crops, there could be a danger that because it is attractive to produce bio-fuels from these crops, the amount of the crops used for food or feedstuff might be diminished or push the prices beyond the reach of farmers. There are advantages and disadvantages in this argument.

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