27/04/10

Labour Spokesperson for Food and Agriculture Seán Sherlock has told the Dáil that the framework for any Bio-Fuels Obligation must provide scope for indigenous production of renewable energy fuels.

"The production of bio-fuels provides a real opportunity for rural areas. It can give farmers a chance to diversify their output by introducing a new crop. The production of the fuels will yield jobs for communities outside of the agricultural sector.

 

"Here lies great potential for a sustainable industry with the knock on effect of the creation of a wide variety of jobs and real growth of the rural economy.

 

"In establishing a bio-fuels obligation scheme that seeks to ensure that 4% of transport fuel is derived from renewable sources from July 2010, we must ensure that such an obligation is as favourable as possible to existing domestic bio-fuels companies and to new companies that will emerge. It is vital that the bio-fuels obligation scheme becomes a source of potentiality, particularly regarding the rural economy.

 

"We must ensure we can stimulate supply domestically to avoid excessive reliance on imports in order to fulfil the requirements of the bio-fuels obligation scheme. For instance, the Munster region traditionally depended largely on the sugar beet industry with approximately 31,000 hectares given over to the production of sugar.

 

"There is a potential for diversion of land use in order to be able to meet this obligation. If companies wish to set up in order to assist in meeting the obligations here, it would stimulate a demand that could be filled by the rural economy, which is what we should be doing.

 

"We do not want to have this obligation and end up importing the raw materials in order to meet that obligation. We need to consider the economic potential on this island to facilitate that.

 

"Inherent within the bio-fuels obligation scheme is a capacity for growth and economic development of a sector which is, to all intents and purposes, in its infancy in this country.

 

"The simple issue here, and let us not forget that we are debating this issue at a time when the economy is on its knees, is that compliance with EU and WTO rules must be mutual with this country's need to create new economic opportunities, particularly within the rural economy."

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