Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 45: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in view of the turbulent events in the oil producing countries of north Africa and the Middle East and in light of the fact that Ireland imports 23% of its oil from Libya, the measures he is planning to take to develop renewable energy sources and develop jobs in this area to reduce our dependence on imported oil. [5851/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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International Energy Agency statistics show that Ireland obtained 23.3% of its crude oil supply from Libya in 2010, which represents 8.78% of Ireland's total crude and refined oil imports in that particular year. The crude oil was sourced on the commercial market. There is no strategic dependence on oil from Libya. The Whitegate refinery is currently sourcing adequate crude oil supplies on the world market.

However, the present crisis in North Africa once again underlines the imperative for Ireland and Europe to reduce dependence on fossil fuels through accelerated development of renewable energy resources and radically enhanced energy efficiency.

In line with Ireland's binding national target under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, the National Renewable Energy Action Plan sets out the measures being taken to deliver 40% renewable electricity by 2020. The target is ambitious but is achievable. In the last five years Ireland has doubled the amount of renewable electricity on the system from over 6% in 2005 to over 13% in 2010. Reducing our national reliance on oil in the transport sector is a daunting challenge. Ensuring that Ireland is to the forefront of the electrification of transport over the next decade will be a critical priority together with progressive penetration of biofuels in to the fuel market.