James Bannon (Fine Gael)

——through a system of energy efficiency labelling for vehicles, but why is the Minister for Finance delaying the implementation of this reform until 2008? The structures in place to promote the growth of bio-fuels are minimal and the Government has failed to exploit our potential for renewable energy to make the blending of fuels compulsory. If the Government was serious about renewables, it would have put in place legislation to ensure that bio-fuel is blended into petrol, diesel and home-heating oil. Had the Minister implemented Fine Gael's proposals, as contained in our Energy for the Future document, real progress could have been made.

Among our proposals are those to legislate to compel all fuel retailers to blend bio-fuel into fuels such as petrol, diesel and home-heating oil and to remove all excise duty on bio-fuels produced from renewable energy crops. In practice, this would mean producers would not need to pay excise duty on the bio-fuels they produce, with the knock-on effect of consumers enjoying cheaper fuel at the pump. An open public competition should be organised for those who wish to avail of capital start-up grants, or to establish and operate bio-fuel processing plants. The Government should require all public transport and public service vehicles to convert, where practical and feasible, to forms of bio-fuel in its pure or a blended form. The Minister's refusal to adopt our proposals means the environment and the economy will suffer for another year.

This Bill is not good news for Ireland, the environment, the Exchequer, the developing world or anyone else. It is the end result of the Government's refusal to take the environment seriously. It is the product of ministerial thinking that sees anyone with an interest in protecting the environment as extremist, anti-progress and utopian. The Minister should be ashamed of himself, his record and the record of the Government.