Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to address the House as the new Fine Gael spokesperson on the environment, health and local government. I compliment the Independent Senators on introducing into the House this very worthy Bill, which Fine Gael will support. The Bill sets clearly defined targets and requires systemic reporting systems and a legal framework for the delivery of those targets.

We all realise that climate change is the most pressing issue facing the world and the facts speak for themselves. According to the UN, 11 of the past 12 years rank among the warmest years in global surface temperatures since 1850. The average rate of warming over the past 50 years is nearly twice that of the previous 100 years. Carbon dioxide is the dominant contributor to current climate change and its atmospheric concentration has increased by more than one third since the Industrial Revolution. The rate of observed sea level rise increased from the 19th to the 20th century and the total 20th century rise is estimated to be almost one fifth of a metre. Geological observations indicate that the sea level rise over the previous 2,000 years was considerably less. Approximately 20% to 30% of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5° to 2.5°. Those are stark facts and the alarm bells are ringing.

Fine Gael is very proud of its environmental policies and plans to make a number of proposals to help us reach our international targets. For examples bio-fuels have the potential to provide huge benefit to farmers, the environment and the economy. Most European states have begun the process of kick-starting the bio-fuel industry by using set-aside land for the growth of bio-fuel crops. Ireland needs to act now if we are to reach European standards.

To kick-start the bio-fuel industry, we call for a number of steps to be taken and Fine Gael commits to taking them. All excise duty should be removed from bio-fuels produced from renewable energy crops, which would drive down costs and entice more players into the market. We urgently need the establishment of grants for producer groups to cover 50% of the costs of establishing such a group subject to a maximum of €300,000 per group. A public competition should be held for the establishment and operation of a number of bio-fuel processing plants strategically located in a selected number of locations. Capital start-up grants for these processing plants would initially be given to enable them to become established and begin viable processing operations. Greater links between international bio-fuel processors and fuel suppliers and the relevant Departments, especially the Departments of Transport and the Marine and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, to facilitate the promotion of the bio-fuel industry are vital.

Production cannot flourish, however, without a market for what is produced. At the moment, the growth of bio-fuels is hampered by the absence of any serious outlets where they can be sold, which is crazy. Bio-fuels are indigenous, reliable and increasingly more economical, which is why Fine Gael proposes to legislate for all motor fuels to include a blend of fuels from renewable sources. All petrol sold at filling stations should include a 5% bioethanol mix and all diesel should include a 2% biodiesel mix. This would not necessitate the conversion of standard motor engines and would represent a good start in reducing vehicle emissions — all very tangible and practical proposals.

I wish to highlight other areas that need attention if we are to achieve our targets. We need to do more to incentivise the use of renewable energies, especially in the domestic market. I acknowledge the work of Sustainable Energy Ireland in this field already. It is doing its best with limited resources to raise awareness in the community of new ways to use renewable energies. We also need to introduce programmes to grant aid the insulation of private dwellings over a certain age. We are burning thousands of gallons of oil trying to heat houses that are not energy efficient.

We also need to consider incentives for businesses to reduce emissions and help them utilise renewable energy. Some of them are already using combined heat processing, CHP, plants that capture, recycle and reuse energy. We should be doing more of that. The Government needs to start with public buildings and institutions which need to be audited for their carbon footprint with a view to controlling waste and improving energy efficiencies. Areas of waste such as fuel, paper and heat need to be addressed. It would be worth considering starting here in Leinster House.

Education will be important in trying to achieve our targets. The green school scheme is working quite well. While they have a high level of participation, we need to step it up to the next level. We need to educate our citizens, small and medium enterprises, and industry. We need to consider public and private transport systems. They need to be audited on their energy use and their proposals to improve on waste and efficiencies in fuel use and journeys taken, which are areas with huge potential for us to increase our efficiencies.

We need to build into the future development programmes of all Government agencies a clearly defined policy that is properly resourced and identifies areas to implement our target programmes. We need to work together to achieve this target and we in Fine Gael will certainly do all in our power in this regard. I again compliment the Independents on introducing the Bill and we look forward to working with all parties across the House to achieve our targets.