Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I know the Minister has seen an in-house report by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission which raised considerable scepticism about the general EU thrust towards bio-fuels as a solution. It made a number of points. One point was that the use of biomass to generate power was more effective than its use in transport and that some technologies for creating bio-fuels produce more carbon than burning fossil fuels. It raised other concerns that the EU was rigging the market in favour of an untried technology. There is scepticism on how effective and well-grounded is the target. While everybody wants to see this pursued and a successful bio-fuel strategy will provide good domestic opportunities, we want to be sure we are building a strategy on firm, long-term ground. Will the Minister examine these concerns and get the authority of Government to investigate this so that we have a strategy if we decide to pursue this target?

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