Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I am concerned that the Government is allowing the construction of second-rate homes rather than meeting the requirements of EU standards. An official from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government stated that it would be difficult for hollow block construction, used widely in the Dublin area, to survive if standards were raised. This comes from a memorandum dating back seven years. I am deeply concerned that we are lagging behind what other countries in Europe are insisting upon in energy performance standards. Only two weeks ago regulations were introduced in the UK requiring every new or refurbished home to have a condensing boiler. We have no such insistence in Ireland. One of Ireland's biggest boiler manufacturers——

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