Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this Bill, which presents Ireland, an agricultural country, with many opportunities. It has many welcome features. If the legislation is properly handled and if proper support mechanisms are put in place, it could be successful. However, I have concerns about it and hope the Minister will address them. Perhaps some are invalid but they are concerns nevertheless.

The Labour Party issued a paper entitled "Biofuels - A Reassessment" that expresses great concern over the effects of bio-fuels, particularly the increase in food prices, in the developing world. Will the Minister address this concern?

This legislation is placing an obligation on certain people and I am concerned about this. It is supposed that our approach would be a failure were it not for the fact that we are including an element of compulsion to achieve our modest goals. I welcome that there is to be a reduction from 5.8% to 4% in the required bio-fuel content of transport fuel. Essentially we are talking about the effects of bio-fuels in the transport sector alone. That a further levy is being imposed through this Bill is unacceptable. Deputy Crawford said that, only last week or the week before, the Minister levied a carbon tax at a rate of 8.7% on agricultural diesel and heating fuels and imposed a tax at a rate of 4.4% on auto-diesel in particular. Despite this, a week later the Minister is responsible for a further levy.

It is odd that, on foot of this Bill, the people who are to be administering and regulating the imposition of the levy are those who are directly involved in the oil industry. This is in spite of the considerable bureaucracy that seems to exist in this area. I refer to administration, licensing, monitoring, guaranteeing that the proper mix will be used and the compelling of the relevant parties in the industry in this regard. Compulsion is a backward step. There should be an incentive rather than compulsion in many cases to achieve national targets.

The Minister has a far greater opportunity than that under discussion to reduce carbon emissions, yet the Government has failed to compel ESB Networks to allow operators to realise the potential of wind-generated renewable energy in the west. I refer in particular to the area I know best in County Galway. By tapping into this resource, we would lower our dependence on fossil fuels, which are largely imported.

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