Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

As the Deputy is well aware, the difficulty that confronts any Government in this regard is that the subsidy required to accommodate the import behind the question would be prohibitive in the present climate. I do not accept that the industry will not grow. It is subject to fluctuations in the prices available in the market to farmers, in particular. A number of small enterprises of this nature have closed in Britain because of the price available for wheat, for example. If farmers can get better prices for their products on the market, they tend to go that way rather than servicing small indigenous bio-fuel production companies. We have had to achieve a good deal of our 4% complement target - as I said, it has been exceeded - by purchasing from outside the jurisdiction. Farming prices tend to fluctuate. Prices are good at present, but that has not always been the case and will not always be in the future. I am talking to different interests to see what we can do in these circumstances. The subsidy in this instance, like that in the re-fit for wind scheme, is a big issue at a time when the State is otherwise strapped for investment.

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