Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable consumers from the impact of rising energy costs through a combination of institutional supports and investment in improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock. I am working closely with the Minister for Social and Family Affairs to deliver a fully cohesive strategic approach across Government and agencies.

We have established an interdepartmental agency group, led by our two Departments, which includes the Departments of Finance, Taoiseach, the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Health and Children, as well as the Commission for Energy Regulation, Sustainable Energy Ireland, ESB and Bord Gáis. The group is serving as a key co-ordinating body to ensure cohesiveness of the various actions under way and plans to address the energy efficiency and affordability challenges for vulnerable consumers.

One of the root causes of fuel poverty is the legacy of older housing with poor energy efficiency standards. I have already increased the 2008 allocation for the low income housing programme administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland to €5 million. The programme's primary focus is the warmer homes scheme, which provides energy efficiency equipment and insulation as well as energy efficiency advice at little or no cost to eligible households. The increased allocation will enable SEI to fund insulation upgrades for an additional 2,000 vulnerable homes in 2008, bringing the total to 5,000 homes which will be upgraded this year.

Budget 2009 provides an allocation of €5 million for the warmer homes scheme next year, which will be complemented by additional funds from ESB and Bord Gáis. This will substantially increase the number of poorer homes that benefit from improved energy efficiency in 2009.

Government policy has focused in recent years on increasing primary social welfare rates to ensure that people on social welfare can meet their basic living costs, including heating costs, throughout the year. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs provides a range of supplements and allowances, including the electricity and gas allowance and the national fuel allowance, to assist those most in need with their heating costs. The Department of Social and Family Affairs estimates that expenditure on these packages will be in the region of €340 million this year.

No national statistics are generated on the number of people experiencing fuel poverty. However, the EU survey on income and living conditions, which is carried out by the Central Statistics Office each year, measures the number of households that have gone without heating at least once over the previous year due to lack of money. The most recent figures available from this survey indicate that in 2006 some 5.7% of households went without heat at some stage during the year, a slight reduction on the figure in 2005.

See this speech in context