Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State. The European Commission recently circulated proposals for revising the Renewable Energy Directive. The proposals recommend ending the EU production of all crops-based biofuels. If enacted the proposals will have a disastrous impact on farming and on rural jobs across Europe and in Ireland and they will destroy efforts to revive the Irish sugar industry. The secretary general of Europe's main farming organisation, the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations, COPA, has pointed out that the Commission's proposal ignores the facts about biofuels produced from sustainable EU-produced sugar beet, feed corn or rapeseed. It can provide environmentally-friendly transport fuel, help decarbonise road transport, enhance EU food security, create balance in EU agricultural markets and provide protein for rich animal feed to livestock producers. It is an extra source of income for farm families and a key source of growth and jobs in the EU rural areas.

The president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, Mr. Patrick Kent, recently warned that the European Commission proposals would put tens of thousands of jobs across Europe at risk. He described the proposals as really bad news for EU farmers, for the environment and for those who believe that fact and scientific reason should underpin EU decision making. He concluded that only fossil fuel oil companies and palm olive importers would be delighted with the Commission.

The Commission proposals are completely illogical and are based on myth about commodity price movements that have been shown to be false. They ignore the best available science and down play the role that EU producers of sustainable ethanol can play in providing Europe with a cleaner energy mix for road transport, with lower green gas emissions and better engine performances. They ignore the reality that the feed corn and sugar beet used in EU ethanol production is not produced by direct human consumption. It is scandalous that all this is ignored. There are tens of thousands of jobs at stake.

In addition, the European Commission proposals are dramatically out of line with the thinking of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.In 2015 the organisation's general secretary said that to deal with a world population of 9 billion by 2050, we needed to move from a food versus fuel to a food and fuel debate. During the years Members of all the major political parties have promised support for the revival of the Irish sugar industry through the creation of a biorefinery capable of producing sugar ethanol and animal feed. Such a project will require an investment of over €300 million. The Commission has seriously undermined investors' confidence in biofuels and its latest proposals will sound the death knell for their confidence. The president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, said it beggared belief the proposals could be supported at European Council or parliamentary level. Through the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations, COPA, European farmers have rejected them. Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly recently described them as far too drastic and he is right. The question is whether the Government is opposed to the Commission's proposals. I would like a simple yes or no answer.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Seanadóir fá choinne na ceiste seo a ardú ar maidin. Tá mé sásta bheith ar ais sa Seanad arís. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter.

On 30 November last the European Commission published the Clean Energy for All Europeans package which included eight legislative proposals. Included in the wide-ranging package is a proposal for a new renewable energy directive to replace the existing 2009 directive, No. 2009/28/EC, which will expire at the end of 2020. The Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment recently launched a public consultation process on the package and details are available on its website. The Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, encourages stakeholders and citizens alike to have an input into the process.

The 2009 EU renewable energy directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020. Ireland is committed to achieving this target through meeting 40% of the demand for electricity, 12% of the demand for heat and 10% of the demand for transport from renewable sources of energy, with the latter target also being legally binding. In the transport sector Ireland aims to meet its 10% target by 2020, mainly through the increased use of sustainable biofuels, with electric vehicles also making a small contribution. A further increase in the obligation rate under the biofuels obligation scheme took effect from 1 January 2017, when the rate increased to 8% by volume.

The proposals in the new renewable energy directive build on the existing directive and provide a framework for renewable energy sources development to 2030. Included among the proposals is an obligation on transport fuel suppliers across the European Union to provide for an increasing share of renewable low-carbon fuels. There is an obligation on fuel suppliers to provide a minimum share of energy from advanced biofuels and renewable electricity. In addition, it is proposed that the existing cap on food-based biofuels that can be counted towards the EU target be gradually reduced in the decade to 2030.

All of this is in line with the Commission’s publication, A European Strategy for Low Emission Mobility, published in 2016. The low emission mobility strategy outlines the initiatives the Commission is planning in the coming years and is regarded as one of the tools to modernise the European economy and strengthen its internal market. It highlights three main elements, namely, increasing the efficiency of the transport system, speeding up the deployment of low emission alternative energy sources for transport and moving towards zero emissions vehicles.

The issue of indirect land use change, ILUC, which can occur when crop-based biofuels are deployed needs to be addressed, while the production of next generation biofuels must be encouraged and supported. A key priority for the Government is to optimise the contribution of agriculture to securing a vibrant and sustainable rural economy. There will be challenges in meeting the increasing demand for land, where there is a need to sustainably increase food production and provide more feedstock for bioenergy. However, the continued shift in focus away from crop-based biofuels, as proposed in the new directive, and the innovative use of waste products, including animal by-products, can help to achieve the demand for bioenergy and lead to job creation and growth. This is already happening. For example, almost all of the biofuels produced in Ireland in recent years have been manufactured from wastes such as tallow and used cooking oil.

Discussion of the proposed new renewables directive will be the subject of negotiations between member states and the Commission in the coming months. Given the extensive nature of proposals included in the new directive, detailed analysis and further consideration of them is under way. Officials in the Minister's Department will be working closely with counterparts in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the biofuel and biomass aspects of the proposals. One of the Minister's key aims is to ensure the level of ambition agreed to, combined with the structures and arrangements to be put in place, will facilitate the meeting of renewable energy targets to 2030 in a manner that will optimise the contribution of the agrifood sector to the economy. In summary, the Minister would like to assure the House that both he and his officials will be working to ensure appropriate and sustainable outcomes are achieved for all, including agreement on biofuel targets.

In response to the Senator's specific request for a yes or no answer, it is obvious from the reply that there is a consultation process for the new directive. It is important that the worries and fears expressed be fed into the process, which I am sure will happen. There is a balance to be struck between land usage and the need for biofuels. Based on the feedback, analysis and statistics, it seems that much of the usage of biofuels is stemming from new mechanisms rather than land use.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. I am disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, cannot be here. It is important to emphasise that European farmers, through the COPA, have rejected the proposals from the Commission. I know all about it as I live in Carlow town where the sugar factory was one of the biggest employers. It is crucial to revive the Irish sugar industry for the sake of rural farmers, industry and employment creation. I am not really happy with the answer given and hope the Minister can come and clarify it as I want to go back to the farmers and people I represent. The response seems to indicate a mixed reaction as the Minister and the officials are in negotiations. I ask him to make sure farmers who have rejected the proposals made are listened to. What they are looking for is the revival of the sugar factories.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I will have no problem in relaying that message. To reiterate the Senator's point about the sugar industry, it was the single biggest decision that affected many farmers and the industry in a negative way. We are all agreed on that point. A lot of people are saying it should not have happened. After the decision was made in 2011 the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, would have had numerous meetings. If I recall correctly, there was momentum towards a potential commercial solution in the form of a buy-in. That is still on the table and I encourage the group to stay in touch with Members of this House to ensure there will be possible options for the revival of the sugar industry. Obviously, it would have to be commercially viable. I encourage stakeholders to become involved again.

At a bigger level, when we talk about food production and the pressures on land use, in rural Ireland there are many fields that are not being used. A lot of land is being used for grazing purposes. In my county land is being used for sheep and cattle production. As we need land for that purpose, I understand the Senator's point about the pressures on land use. However, there are also global challenges, as well as global solutions. Somebody told me recently that not alone could Africa provide enough food for people living there; it could also feed the world. We have to look at new and alternative ways. If we look at the population of a country like Kenya, year on year there will be 1 million new workers joining the workforce. By 2050 the population of Nigeria will treble, while the population of the continent of Africa will double to 2.4 billion. The Senator is right in saying it is important to have this debate. It is also important that we do not hold it in isolation in a silo at European level as everything has an impact. I thank the Senator for raising this very important point.