Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

The issue did not gain any impetus yesterday.

In its pre-budget submission, the Combat Poverty Agency urged the Government to taper the subvention of SEI's greener homes towards low income households to ensure that all new social housing would be fitted with alternative energy sources. The Minister for Finance took no action in this regard and neither did he take any action on the homes of the future. On RTE radio this morning, the Minister spoke with a company involved in construction. The company was deeply disappointed that the Minister ultimately responsible for social and affordable housing failed to take action on sustainable energy. Sustainable Energy Ireland itself received just €3 million for the development of a pilot energy efficiency programme for small and medium sized enterprises. However, there was no mention of the national energy efficiency programme.

A recent meeting of the Select Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, attended by Deputy Durkan and me, passed a budget of a single euro to permit the spending of €2.5 million on the "Power of One" campaign. This campaign has been nothing other than a public relations exercise. Why did the Power of One campaign not start with the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources showing leadership by using a hybrid car? We are still waiting for this to happen.

The EU has asked Ireland to embark on a monumental, 75-step process on energy conservation. It is seeking an energy reduction of 20% by 2020. The Labour Party believes this is a reasonable target and we should embark on that road. However, the Minister for Finance ignored this area in his speech yesterday. There was no additional funding for projects such as smart metering which would allow householders to determine simply and precisely how much electricity or gas they are using. Smart meters make this much easier than the complex existing meters.

I recently spoke to a manager with the Viridian Group which operates the electricity grid in Northern Ireland. He told me that because they have had a Labour government for the past ten years, they are much further down the road than us. They have installed smart and other meters to advance the green agenda. They have done this because they have a government with a sustainable energy policy. That is the fundamental difference between the two jurisdictions. Above all, they have a Prime Minister and a Chancellor of the Exchequer who have been committed to a sustainable energy strategy for well over a decade.

Perhaps our Fianna Fáil colleagues are shimmying up to the Green Party in order to create an alliance after the general election should they win fewer than 70 seats. They are throwing shapes and making eyes at the Green Party's seats and trying to winkle them out of any possible alternative government.

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