Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives from SEAI. Returning to the two previous contributions, one aspect absent here is a bit of honesty about the opening of the interconnector between Ireland and Britain. A person plugging in his or her kettle in Manorhamilton in County Leitrim could be just as easily using energy that is produced from a nuclear reactor in Sellafield or will be using energy from a nuclear reactor to be built in Somerset. We need a bit of honesty in this. If we do not want a wind turbine but we want an interconnector and we will rely on British nuclear energy to maintain our energy needs in the future, we need to be honest as policymakers. If we are not going to have wind turbines or whatever, it is baloney to say that is fine, let us abandon all of our responsibilities, invest in a British nuclear reactor and import it from there now that we have the cable. People need to speak up and be honest that it is an Irish solution to an Irish problem to export the problem and say let the British public worry about the fallout, if any, from a nuclear reactor in the south west of England but let us import our energy and pretend that we do not have a problem. I do not accept that at all. I do not think the public accepts it either and the public has wised up to politicians who come out with that kind of baloney.

On sustainability of wind energy, one of the aspects I have often been interested in is the carbon footprint of the base of a wind turbine, that is, the amount of energy that goes into the production of cement that is used for the creation of a base. There is a significant number of wind turbines in my area and I have seen the size of these bases, which are enormous. I wonder has SEAI done an analysis on how long the wind turbine needs to turn at an optimum rate before it strips out the carbon footprint that created the foundation blocks in the first place. If one has been out to a wind farm, as I am sure the SEAI representatives have, the bases of these turbines are massive and a significant amount of energy has to go into the cement factory that produces the cement in the first place.

On what Deputy Coffey stated about stoves, there is a major anomaly in the implementation of SEAI's credit schemes. I raised this with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, previously. If Deputy Coffey and myself have two shops selling stoves side by side in Limerick but I also sell coal, briquettes, logs and turf legitimately, and Deputy McEntee comes in to me to buy a stove, I must ask her for her MPRN number. Deputy Coffey, who is not selling coal, need not. From whom does Dr. Motherway think the person will buy the stove? This is a major problem and constituents have said it to me. I relayed it to the Minister and I have probably related to SEAI as well. That is placing an impediment in the way of consumers. Dr. Motherway will state it relates to carbon credits but it does not matter where the stove is bought because once it is bought it will lead to an efficiency anyway. We know how many stoves are sold in the country because the manufacturers can tell us exactly where they are sold, but it is unfair to place that impediment in the way of one group of retailers merely because they sell briquettes outside the door whereas it is not there for the other retailers. It is something that should be looked at.

On the insulation schemes, a great deal of the older housing stock, especially in rural areas, is built of mass concrete and one cannot pump the walls. In some instances, one is limited because there are conservation officers and everybody else stating one cannot do this, that and the other. I wonder would SEAI look at novel ways of addressing houses built of mass concrete and, in some cases, stone, which, occasionally, weeps. Has it looked at that?

I raised previously with SEAI the accreditation of the installation of the external wall insulation and ensuring that it does what it says on the tin. It is not a small sum that the State is investing. In fact, it is a significant labour activation measure as well. I refer to those who are getting their walls insulated, be it with external wall or pumped insulation, or attic insulation.

Given the amount of validation and security checking required, some of the legitimate operators are worried about groups in our society who look at insulation as a way of making quick buck. The legitimate operators who have been upfront and meticulous in demonstrating to customers how their energy efficiency can be changed now find themselves competing with people who are only interested in drawing down the grant. A mechanism is needed to weed out the latchicos from the genuine people.

In regard to Deputy Colreavy's comments on chicken litter, I am pleased to inform him that my constituency has the third largest number of chickens, after counties Waterford and Monaghan, is also at the forefront in developing the technology to convert chicken litter into energy. I invite members and the SEAI to visit BHSL, which was born out of the closure of the old processing plant in Kantoher. Perhaps Deputy Colreavy might like to visit the operation to observe how it converts farm litter into a renewable source of energy. I welcome the witnesses contributions. I acknowledge that SEAI is doing very good work but I can see opportunities for improvement.