Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

I thank the Senator for his kind interjection. It is now a few years later and Galway City Council vehicles have 5% bio-fuel. Waste vegetable oil in the city has been converted into bio-fuel. A waste product has become a bio-fuel and is useful. It is hoped that it will be increased to 10%, which is in line with the Minister's target. I hope we exceed that target before 2020.

I received a very interesting policy document from Fine Gael entitled Rebuilding Ireland A "NewERA" for the Irish Economy. I could consider this from a party political point of view but, like the Minister, I believe it is important that we welcome what is in the document. It is a good document and one which Deputy Enda Kenny constantly quotes with regard to 100,000 new jobs. One of its key points is on bio-fuels and a large section of the document is on this issue. This is a document from an Opposition party so it is not only the Government that is pushing this forward. The 100,000 jobs would come from bio-fuels and other areas such as smart meters, wind generators, broadband, renewable energy, water and greener homes. What is startling is that this is the green agenda and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is leading the way on all of these matters.

I have a difficult with one area of the document which states: "From 2013 to 2015 we would phase out the sale of regular diesel from Irish forecourts with an aim of having only biodiesel available for purchase from 2015." That is very laudable but in this Fine Gael suggests replacing 2.3 million tonnes of diesel with 150,000 tonnes of biodiesel and this is obviously an impossibility. In the short term we cannot replace all of the diesel in the country with biodiesel and, unfortunately, the document contains a mistake in this regard. However, the general sentiment is that we need to move towards a decent level of bio-fuels and renewable energy.

The green agenda is very important. When I was growing up in the 1970s we spoke about the Hubbert peak, which is now known as peak oil. This country has eminent people who are experts on peak oil. Peak oil means that worldwide demand for oil exceeds the amount that can be produced and there is not enough oil to meet demands.

The worldwide economic crisis was not due to the collapse of Lehman Brothers but the price of oil. It is clear to me that the price of oil shot up to more than $100 per barrel because demand was increasing exponentially to the point at which it could no longer be met, with the result that we experienced a great economic collapse. Economics works according to the simple law of supply and demand. People do not realise how the price of oil penetrates society and economy. I have spoken to schoolchildren as part of the green flag programme. The fleeces they wear are made from recycled oil-based plastic bottles. Until recently, they were produced in Ireland. Fertilisers are also produced from oil. I would not be surprised if many of the materials used in this Chamber were produced from oil. All plastics and most chemicals are oil-based.

This country does not have an indigenous supply of oil and, while it is possible we will discover one, it will be a non-renewable resource. I cannot understand why we spend all our time discussing people like George Lee when we should be jumping up and down in alarm at the small proportion of our energy supply which comes from indigenous and renewable resources. We have great potential in that regard.

I commend Fine Gael on its document, Rebuilding Ireland: A "NewERA" for the Irish Economy. An all-party approach would help to bring about the certainty we need in our energy policy. It is incumbent on us to work together because the future of the economy depends on it. I do not claim bio-fuels alone will bring us out of recession but energy security will be one of the key ingredients in our recovery. I commend the Minister on his efforts in this regard. He is getting on with the job Fine Gael proposes to take up. He is in the House on a regular basis to debate the Bills he has introduced.