Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Bio-fuels are not an area in which the market can be left to its own devices as to do so would result in unsustainable fuels being imported from rainforest regions and other unsustainable sources. This is the reason I was active and supportive of the European Union proposal for sustainability criteria to be the first requirement. This means legislation set in Brussels rather than individual markets would be the deciding factor. The crucial issue in this respect is that a carbon reduction requirement of 35% would exclude a whole market from exporting bio-fuels to this country. The United States corn to ethanol market, which caused considerable damage and undermined domestic Irish production, has been stopped by the imposition of sustainability criteria.

While I wish to pursue the development of an indigenous market, this must be done within the rules of the World Trade Organisation, particularly given that our agriculture sector lives by the rules of that organisation. We cannot breach WTO rules in one area while seeking the protection of the WTO in other areas in which we may have commercial advantage.

The first requirement for the development of an indigenous industry is to have a secure, stable market in Ireland. Significant domestic supply sources, both in waste products and the agriculture sector, will have commercial viability in a more stable market. The first requirement is to find out how this works under the European Union's sustainability criteria.

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