Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are dangers. I should mention that the Government that fell did not do so as a result of a tax on children's shoes. It fell over VAT chargeable on all clothing and footwear. The Opposition of the day selected the children's bits and that is how it has been tagged ever since. These are the type of things that happen in politics.

I remember back in the 1970s when we built a lot of houses. They were built, in anticipation of the future, with no chimneys. A grant had to be given in order that chimneys could be put in place in countless houses throughout the country. At the time, everyone had been saying it was going to be warm because there was climate change at that time as well, but it went in the opposite direction. There is a pitfall we need to be wary of. I mentioned what I have done in my own small way to address the issues involved. The action we took reduced, by approximately 65%, fossil fuel consumption in the house. When the really savage winter came, which drove temperatures way down, we were able to control the heat and keep 14 or 15 radiators going while at the same time never touching fossil fuels. It was a practical experiment I carried out to prove it could be done. We need to do a few more things.

I am afraid that we could have a cold snap that lasts two or three months, particularly because the weather has been more extreme in recent times. We see this from looking at our televisions. It might be beneficial to consider how it could be dealt with. LPG biogas is one option. It seems to reduce emissions by more than 90%. It may be a step in the right direction in the meantime. It would help to keep people with a reasonable degree of comfort in some shape or form while we stride towards the targets we have to achieve in any event.

I have had many arguments and debates about this in recent years, particularly those who have said it will never happen, that we will never need to adapt our lifestyles in this fashion and that it was all a scare and part of an international scam to scare people. We have to get away from that. I fully accept that the Government is doing what it needs to do as quickly as possible, but it might not be quick enough for the people who will be caught in the meantime. I ask that some provision be made or a plan put in place to address the issues that might arise in the event of a sharp severe cold winter or cold spell during the winter that would affect the people we are speaking about. It affects all walks of society, including the wealthy, the not so wealthy and the poor. Everybody is affected by the extremes of temperatures when they come. Those extremes will come again. I ask that we look at this and not take panic measures but, rather, take steps that will have an impact and to place in the hands of the people the ways and means of working their way out of this particular situation until we reach the position to which we aspire.