Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The train to Sligo and the bus from Cavan mentioned by the Senator are social gains. We will not forget that in the support we will give to that type of progressive action.

I thank the Senators for their contributions to what has been an excellent and useful debate. This shows the complexities of progressing the green agenda. A number of Senators mentioned that the UK jurisdiction had similar legislation. In the European mandatory obligation systems we work under, there is much similar legislation coming from the European Union. However, the concept behind this obligation system was created in 2004 in an analysis presented by Sustainable Energy Ireland; therefore, we have been working on this for some time. It is not on the hoof or short-term thinking. There must be long-term thinking in what we do in the energy sector because in that way we can avoid some of the pitfalls in acting on a short-term basis.

Senator Reilly spoke about the possible to the consumer, an important consideration. Nobody knows for sure how much it will cost until we get down to doing it. As this is a market related obligation system, the cost it will vary. the Department estimates that the cost to the consumer should be less than half of one cent per litre of fuel. We should be willing to support this for the security benefits we may receive in the creation of this additional supply. There are carbon reduction benefits, but there is also a security issue in having diversity in the supply of oil for the delivery of our food, the movement of our people and everything we do daily. There are mechanisms in the Bill that will protect the consumer against an excessive fuel price rise such as the buy-out clause.

Senator Reilly stated that in developing these fuels, it would be preferable if they could benefit agriculture by providing for as much indigenous supply as possible. We all agree on that aspect. We should also agree that we must live within World Trade Organisation rules. Unless we unwind GATT, the Uruguay Round and the Doha Round negotiations, we are constrained by world trade rules. Therefore, we must develop Irish agricultural opportunities. I would be very attentive to the specific proposals of any party in that respect. This obligation system provides for a stable and consistent market for the sale and use of bio-fuels. This market has been bedevilled by the huge variability of support schemes; therefore, its consistency is the first means by which we can help Irish farmers. They have enough variables to deal with, be it the weather, the cost of seeds and other inputs. They at least want to know that there is a consistent market into which they can sell if they are to develop business opportunities. As this new obligation system is rolled out, there will be an opportunity for the European Union's sustainability criteria to benefit Irish farmers. We will have to see how this works because this is the first time these criteria will be rolled out. However, they provide an opportunity for Irish farmers. The criteria will include the crucial issues of land use and land use effect. We must make sure we are not buying fuel from land where forest had to be cleared, especially tropical rainforest. This will be contained in the EU criteria and is a crucial aspect.

There are specific reductions in respect of greenhouse gas reductions required in any bio-fuels traded under WTO rules. There is an immediate 35% carbon reduction, or CO

The sustainability criteria have to be based on a full life cycle analysis. They will include the area of transport emissions in terms of the overall greenhouse gas effect if we are importing bio-fuel products. Transport emissions are not necessarily a huge component of greenhouse gas emissions, but they come in under the full "wheel to wheel" analysis and extend from end-use carbon to the transport component in the full life cycle analysis.