Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Since its publication, the Green Paper has been rightly characterised as being high on aspiration and low on action. That characterisation arises from the fact that a lengthy policy vacuum has developed in respect of energy policy. It is only in the past few years that the Government has begun to address the issue, which is the most important facing our country, and give the subject the importance it deserves. I welcome the fact that at long last we have this Green Paper.

I welcome also the commitment from the Minister — although it may not be a commitment he will carry out; other Members here might be involved in it in the future — that reviews will be done at least every five years. I know there are long lead-in times in developing new fuels and renewables and in developing generation but even taking account of that, five years is a long time.

The three pillars upon which the Green Paper is based — security of supply, environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness — are a valuable basis on which to build our energy strategy. Like the Green Paper, the goal of the Labour Party, at its most fundamental, is to deliver affordable energy for all consumers, ideally resourced locally, which will last into the future and that does not do long-term damage to the environment. In that context, the Minister might have extended his three pillars to include and stress affordability and energy equality. Since access to energy resources is a basic human necessity, a critical component of any responsible energy strategy must be to ensure it is affordable for everyone, including the poorest in our society.

It was deliberate that on the very day Irish families and businesses were being hit with the massive 34% increase in gas prices, the Government finally released the Green Paper, accompanied by the Deloitte & Touche report. A statistic in the Deloitte & Touche report that leaps out at the reader is the fact that almost one in five Irish people is defined as being fuel poor. That is an astonishing and unacceptable statistic and it is amazing that it did not lead the Minister to put much more far-reaching measures in tackling fuel poverty at the core of this document.

There is nothing new in the Green Paper on fuel and energy poverty apart from a vague pledge that consideration will be given to the extension of current policy initiatives to address the issue. Those programmes include the remedial works programme, the warmer homes scheme and the central heating scheme. A review of the design guidelines for local authority houses is also promised but there are already numerous existing energy efficiency regulations in the building sector which are not being properly implemented and monitored. As I said on the day the Building Control Bill was passed by this House, a huge tranche of new housing — up to one third of our housing stock — has been developed without reference to improving energy efficiency or developing renewable energy sources.

While there are valuable elements to some of those programmes, the existing policies have not prevented a huge number of our people being condemned to fuel poverty. Figures from Bord Gáis and the ESB show that the average household in the Republic currently pays approximately €1,658 a year in fuel bills and with the onset of the new price hikes, the total average cost will rise to a massive €2,107 by the new year — a 27% increase — while in Britain the average annual bill is approximately 42% less at between €1,230 and €1,291. As a result of that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul stated recently that approximately €3.5 million of its annual budget of almost €34 million will be used in the coming winter months to help families pay gas and electricity bills. It is striking that in the Green Paper before the House less than a page — six lines in the introductory section and two thirds of the second last page — is devoted to fuel poverty. The Labour Party believes strongly that the poorest in our society should not have to pay for regulatory failure or for the real cost of introducing renewable energy technologies.

No single renewable energy technology can meet all our energy needs. It is clear there may be limits to renewable energy but a much strengthened renewables policy must be pursued from energy security, environmental and economic perspectives. With Ireland's frightening statistic of having over 90% dependence on imported fossil fuels and the declining global supply of fossil fuels accompanying climate change, it is a well acknowledged imperative that we must diversify our fuel supply as a matter of urgency.

I realise it is easy to set targets and much more difficult to ensure they are realised but the 15% by 2010 and 30% renewable target for 2020 set by the Minister show a lack of ambition. A more energetic Government might have sought to supply the bulk of Ireland's electricity supply by renewables by 2030. Due to systemic Government failure, Ireland remains at an incredibly low base of 2.6% of total primary energy needs coming from renewable sources.

I am sure most of my colleagues from the Opposition parties who attended the recent Irish Wind Energy Association conference in Ennistymon will agree that we had an interesting and stimulating debate. The achievements of the wind industry struck many of us at the conference. The Minister must be commended, and I do so now, on introducing the REFIT programme and attempting to assist the promoters of wind energy through developing REFIT and replacing air.

In terms of biomass and biofuels, the Green Paper refers to a national bio-energy action plan that should be ready for the end of 2006 and will set a road map and targets for biomass. However, with the track record of this Government of delivering policies and programmes on time, especially in the area of renewable energy, it is highly unlikely we will see this much needed plan remotely within the designated timeframe.

The Government has rightly ruled out the nuclear power option, which reflects the beliefs and values of this House. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle is interested in the possibilities provided by clean coal technology, given the resources we have available. One of the failures of the Government is the lack of development of biofuels and the failure to reach the 2% target set for 2005, opting instead for a meagre 0.06% by 2005 and 2% by 2008. This will make it difficult for us to reach the EU target of 5.75% by 2010.

The failure of the Minister and the Taoiseach to insist on establishing a clean fuels ministerial fleet represents a missed opportunity. The Minister launched his Power of One campaign last week but why did he not start with one Minister? He could have started the energy efficiency campaign by changing his famous ministerial vehicle.

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