Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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437. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason Ireland was not one of the group of progressively-minded EU countries which succeeded in blocking the motion for 7% cap on bio-fuels, particularly in view of Ireland's strong commitment to hunger eradication; and if he will commit to supporting the 5% cap when the debate is resumed. [55191/13]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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The Government shares the concerns expressed that biofuel production and its use, unless properly regulated, may not deliver the required greenhouse gas savings and could impact negatively on food production and on food prices. Throughout discussions on the European Commission's proposal to address the risk of indirect land-use change (ILUC), which have been ongoing for almost a year at this stage, Ireland has argued for measures that will mitigate the ILUC risks of certain categories of biofuels.

In this regard, Ireland's preference is to see as low a cap on biofuels with a risk of ILUC effects as is realistically achievable in order to mitigate the potential conflict between biofuel use in the EU and land use in the developing world. In the interests of facilitating negotiations with the European Parliament with a view to reaching an agreement as quickly as possible, at the December meeting of the Energy Council Ireland supported the Lithuanian Presidency’s proposal, which included a 7% cap on biofuels with a risk of ILUC. However, agreement could not be reached at the Council and seven Member States voted against the proposal, including a number of Member States who had argued for a higher cap or no cap at all.

It should be noted that in the absence of an agreement, there will continue to be no restriction on Member States using first generation biofuels with a risk of ILUC in meeting their renewable energy targets. It is for this reason that Ireland will continue to support efforts to secure as low a cap as is achievable.