Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In February the Minister for Transport announced the move to E10 as the standard grade for petrol in Ireland which will help to reduce the harmful emissions produced by petrol cars. E10 provides that there is a minimum of 10% ethanol in standard petrol, above the current E5 or 5% ethanol which is currently supplied in petrol stations. This will bring us in line with Britain and Europe. However, unlike the situation in Britain and Europe it does not seem clear whether the Government intends to cater for the small amount of car users who would be affected by this change: those whose cars will only take and operate on E5. One correspondent of mine mentions his particular situation. He has a 2006 Lexus JS300, which is one of the few cars that cannot run E10 according to Lexus and the EU. I looked this up and confirmed that it is the case. In the rest of the EU and in Britain, E5 is still available to purchase. What is the Government going to do to accommodate the small number of petrol car users whose cars cannot run on E10? I have a family interest in the area of vintage or more specifically veteran and classic vehicles. Certainly E10 would be damaging to the engines of older vehicles, specifically those. According to my correspondent, this issue would affect tens of thousands of cars whose owners are likely unaware that the extra ethanol would destroy aluminium and rubber fuel lines in cars such as his. That would certainly seem to be unreasonable. When I looked up what the Government had to say on it, it was not at all clear because the suggestion was that it would only be a matter of adjusting cars or having them serviced more often or having more frequent maintenance. However, it is more serious than that. I ask that we get some clarification from the Government that the small number of car owners affected would be in a position to access E5 for their cars in the future and that the Government would ensure that is the case.