Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No, I am afraid that is not the case at all. The Deputy is misinformed. After I met representatives of non-governmental organisations during the Irish Presidency, I undertook to submit their arguments into the debate in Europe. I have to inform the Deputy that when I did so, the arguments in question received a very cold reception from some states. If I thought that a blocking minority could be formed in the morning, I would support it. Far from the list the Deputy read out, there is not even a blocking minority, nor is there universal approval of the Lithuanian suggestion of a 7% ceiling.

In case I do not get to speak on this matter again, I wish to inform the House that the best and most recent advice I have from Brussels is that the indirect land use change issue, which is known in the lingo as the ILUC issue, is unlikely to proceed to finality in the lifetime of the present Commission or the present Parliament. I am particularly intrigued by the Deputy's assertion that 27 Commissioners signed off on a 5% ceiling. While I know she would not make such a statement unless she believed it to be true, I have to say it is news to me. If she has some evidence to support that statement, I would be glad to get it.

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