Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

No, but in our day-to-day business, we travel long distances and trying to find charge points for electric vehicles can be difficult. People in the Dublin region can charge them when they get to work and again when they get home. The challenge is slightly different but there have been developments with batteries. The European Commission is putting significant investment into this and there will be significant progress in the short term. I am trying to lead by example and that is why I have a hybrid vehicle. I have been surprised by how comfortable it is. If someone is thinking about changing their vehicle, I would encourage them to test drive the hybrid vehicles before they made a final decision on which vehicle to purchase. People who have travelled with me have been surprised by how comfortable and spacious the vehicle is and all I ask is that people try them out before they make a determination on which vehicle to purchase.

Under the biofuels obligation, an additional 2% will kick in from 1 January. I am in agreement with Deputy Smith regarding her criticisms in this regard. Electric vehicles are the way forward in respect of personal transport and we need to examine how we can make them more attractive. This also addresses Senator Lombard's question. He also asked a question about local authorities setting an example and he is correct about that. That is why we are working with not only local authorities but with all the public sector bodies to support energy efficiency measures and, under our 2020 targets, the public sector has a 33% energy efficiency target.

We are in discussions with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform about this and we are working closely with the local authorities, particularly in respect of public lighting because approximately 50% of their overall electricity bill relates to this. If we can make significant progress on public lighting usage, we can make significant progress on emissions and energy efficiency. It would also mean local authorities would have more money to spend on other initiatives in their own communities, be they energy efficiency or other programmes. A national steering group on public lighting is working with the 31 local authorities. There is a pricing issue because individual lights are not metered. That body of work is nearing completion and it should assist local authorities.

Deputy O'Reilly asked about domestic energy efficiency measures, which ties in with Deputy Stanley's question about deep retrofits that are required for older houses. We are involved in two pilot schemes at the moment, one of which is the warmth and well-being pilot. We have set aside €20 million over three years to do deep retrofits in Dublin 12 and Dublin 24. We reckon it will cost €20,000 on average per house to do the retrofit. We have selected people through the HSE public health nurses and GPs who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD. These people frequently attend our health services, including the local hospital in Tallaght and St. James's Hospital. We are seeking to make their homes more comfortable by improving the air circulation, which is a major problem in many older homes. This will make the homes healthier, more comfortable and more energy efficient. Based on research carried out in New Zealand, we believe there will be a reduction in the number of people presenting to GPs, requiring medication and presenting in accident and emergency departments. Not only will their homes be more comfortable and energy efficient and their energy bills be reduced, the health service will save significant money and resources. It is our intention to roll out that scheme on a broader level on foot of this pilot.

The other pilot is a bike to work scheme for homes through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. The Department has been working with EPS, a company based in Mallow, County Cork, on this. It has carried out significant deep retrofits on the homes of its employees. They pay the company back for this through their wages over a period and that has been a huge success. We are working with Tipperary Energy and other energy co-operatives throughout the country on other initiatives to ascertain if they will work and, if so, to upscale them.

Coming back to Deputy Smith's question, I am looking for money for this area not just in this budget but in future budgets. We need to do this from a fuel poverty point of view and from an energy efficiency point of view. However, I also made a commitment in the election campaign to try to prevent people getting sick in the first place, and this is a simple step to make people more comfortable in their own homes and to prevent them from presenting in accident and emergency departments and in their GPs' surgeries. We are targeting a specific cohort of people who have poor quality health because we can improve their health outlook dramatically, but the intention is to roll this scheme out.

Deputy Stanley asked about governance issues in respect of the SEAI. There were relatively minor issues. The most significant governance issue was the lack of a service level agreement or, as it is now called, a performance delivery agreement, with the Department. This had been identified by the Department as a weakness some time ago. Officials had been working with the authority to put this in place. It is important to acknowledge that a team within the Department's internal team audit identified this and flagged it. Our internal process, therefore, is working well. Last week, I visited the team in Cavan to compliment them on the work they are doing. I spoke to some of my staff in my office earlier who had a grilling from the internal audit unit yesterday and they said the unit is doing its job and keeping us all on our toes, which it is supposed to do.