Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith. It is like musical chairs here with Ministers of State coming and going. I hope this Minister of State shows more enthusiasm for this topic than the previous one who looked bored out of his mind. If the Minister of State and the Government could pick up on the energy from Senator Norris's contribution, perhaps we could have a more comprehensive debate on this topic.

It is time for a real debate on this issue. Everyone agrees we need to reduce our overdependency on oil. This country is very vulnerable in that regard. We all agree that if energy costs go up, it has a major effect on the economy. If the cost of transporting goods goes up, shops must up their prices and the consumer must pay more which adds to inflation.

Sweden is cited as a country which will reduce its dependence on fossil fuels but I understand that it will still depend on nuclear energy. It is, therefore, important to compare like with like when we debate this issue. I am not hung up on nuclear energy. It is a little farcical and represents gombeen politics for us to go on about Sellafield every day of the week because we have achieved nothing in that regard. Prime Minister Blair has indicated that he will revitalise Britain's nuclear industry and will shut down the current phase but will construct new nuclear energy power plants. I accept as opposed to welcome that because it is more realistic. Every few months we see the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government of the day go to the UK beating his chest and demanding the closure of Sellafield. That will never happen. At least what Prime Minister Blair has said he will do is more feasible and realistic. Ideally, it would be better if there was no nuclear energy but there is and we must be realistic. Unfortunately, the UK has a major problem with energy and it views the nuclear option as its best avenue. It is important we adopt a practical and realistic approach to that. It would be more realistic for us to argue for the closure of the current phase of nuclear plants and for their replacement with modern, safer plants.

Senator Scanlon referred to Brazil. Iowa in America has led by example as well. Biofuels must to be freely available at petrol stations. We can talk until we are blue in the face about this issue but until biofuels are freely available at petrol stations, we will achieve nothing. Ireland should continue to set an example as it has done with the smoking ban and the tax on plastic bags. We should lead the way in Europe in regard to alternative fuel.

This issue was brought home to me lately with the closure of the Carlow sugar factory. We need to address the production of biofuel, possibly using the Mallow plant. The EU Commissioner indicated the Mallow plant could be used without affecting the compensation scheme. I welcome the grant for thermal heating in houses, which is a good idea. We should continue to move in that direction. We should also consider capping the amount of VAT on fuel as it is adding to inflation as fuel prices increase.