Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

One of the problems of doing this on a Thursday afternoon, particularly this week, is that one gets the distinct impression that nobody is listening. Nonetheless, this is really important. Will the Minister of State inform the House how much money the State has lost in tax relief on imported fuel under this scheme since 2006? Can he provide an estimate? I expect it is well over €100 million.

The Minister of State said there were 18 successful applicants. Under the award scheme exercise, relief was applicable in the two big volume areas — 306 million litres of bioethanol and 290 million litres of bio-diesel. It would be very welcome if we were producing even a large proportion of that volume in Ireland. Of the 18 successful applicants, how many plants are being or have been constructed in the bioethanol and bio-diesel areas? My understanding is that there is only one.

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