Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 51: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide the most recent figures of the oil reserves held by the National Oil Reserves Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28027/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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On 1 April, 2008, the latest date for which figures are available, Ireland held 102 days' oil stocks under the International Energy Agency system. These stocks comprised 48 days of stocks owned by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA), stored in Ireland and abroad, 16 days of stock tickets stores abroad on behalf of NORA, and 38 days of industry/consumer stocks stored in Ireland.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the Government has indicated to the EU that the targets on biofuels should be halted due to the ethical implications of importing biofuels from developing countries to reach these targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28022/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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At the Informal Meeting of Energy Ministers convened by the French Presidency last week, we discussed the very complex challenges of biofuels and the growing concerns in relation to global production and use. We agreed that the development of credible and robust sustainability criteria by the European Union was a key priority and that this work will intensify over the next three months. In terms of the proposed target for 2020, it is important to clarify that the EU objective is for 10% of renewable energy in transport, not a 10% share of biofuels. I expect the debate to continue intensively at European level and in that context the level and pace of intermediate biofuel targets is undoubtedly on the agenda.