Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

First, I wish to raise the accusation levelled at me last week by the Taoiseach when he stated I was telling him a twisted pack of lies. In order to prove how mistaken he is, I will give him the letter from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that urges Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council not to adopt the standards it subsequently adopted. Second, I refer to the two articles, one from The Sunday Tribune and the other from a construction magazine, Construct Ireland, stating that less than 2% of all houses comply with Part L of the Building Regulations 1997. This follows a survey conducted by Sustainable Energy Ireland, which has not been published even though it was carried out in 2005. I look forward to its publication.

The Taoiseach might reflect on this point as it does not simply pertain to people being cold in their homes, paying exorbitant heating bills and in some cases being obliged to take out loans to pay the bills. This pertains to heating, which in terms of the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, constitutes approximately one third of energy use in Ireland. The proportion caused by heating requires serious attention, particularly as the Taoiseach had no difficulty last weekend in telling his followers in Galway that Ireland would have no problem in meeting its Kyoto Protocol targets.

I take it that the Taoiseach did not actually mean reducing carbon dioxide emissions, but paying the estimated €700 million per annum in carbon credits. This money, which should be invested in hospitals or other essential services, will leave Ireland.

I seek clarity in this regard because today's newspapers report that, yesterday, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, pledged with other EU Ministers to cut climate change gases by 20% below 1990 levels. A 20% reduction from 1990 levels presents a sizeable challenge for Ireland.

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