Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I accept the Minister for Finance introduced proposals to reduce excise duty on a certain amount of bio-fuels but the quota is now oversubscribed and pure plant oil producers in this country who wish to be included are not included. Sadly, the Government has gone outside the country to supply the market, an appalling gaffe that I cannot understand.

I do not know if the Government fully appreciates the potential damage but when it copied the Fine Gael proposals it did not realise they require a full plan, research and development and a number of inputs. No single element of alternative energy will solve the energy problem. It requires a co-ordinated approach by Departments. That was suggested and the Government agreed in theory but in practice, like all imitations, it was short of what was required.

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