Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I support the Fine Gael amendment moved by Deputy Durkan. The key point of his addition to this part of the 1999 Act is to require the commission itself to establish standards for heating and plumbing contractors, particularly as regards the safety of home heating and plumbing installations. As Deputy Durkan said, there is also a concern that heating should be as efficient as possible and meet the highest installation standards, thus preventing heat loss.

There are references in the Bill to combined heat and power factors. The amendment refers in particular to installers and the important new role CER will have in this regard. In the earlier stages of the Bill, most of the Deputies on the select committee met organisations such as RECI and others representing professionals in the electrical trade. We discussed designated works and other types of work, as well as the requirements that will apply to the safety of electrical and gas heating installations.

In the past we did not have apprenticeship-type recognition codified sufficiently in the national training and education system. We now have the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, a system which provides training benchmarks across the economy. Deputy Durkan has tried to copperfasten this so that the Commission for Energy Regulation would have a specific role in training standards.

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