Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion tabled by Sinn Féin. It is if the Government is saying, “Do as I say and not as I do.”. “Lead by example” is an old adage that stood well in this country. However, Deputy Tóibín gave the appalling example of State buildings to show that the Government and public bodies do not give a whim about saving energy and retrofitting, for that matter. There is no such thing as retrofitting. The schemes are too onerous. There is a massive waiting list, not enough money and people have to invest a lot to get a report done beforehand. As far as I can see, the schemes are tailor-made for the leafy suburbs of Dublin. I mean the leafy suburbs and not the ordinary lads out in Jobstown, Tallaght or any place else. It is the people in the leafy suburbs of south Dublin. That is where the schemes are suited because they have the money to put up. They are the ones with the electric cars too. They are the ones who are dictating Government policy.

I said to the Ceann Comhairle before that Irish people were living in eco-friendly houses long before the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was – I will not repeat it – ever born. They were thatched cottages that were cold in the summer and warm in the winter with fuinneoga beaga - small windows. It is time the Government parties got some measure or modicum of reality, as well as a bit of humility, and brought the people with them. They should lead by example and bring the people with them. There is not near enough funding for this. The Government penalises farmers’ groups and the working man. The Government has a punitive carbon tax, which is totally discriminatory against rural dwellers. There are public transport reliefs for where the public transit is, which again, is mainly in Dublin and some other cities.

We had an excellent Tipperary Energy Agency based in Cathair Dún Iascaigh in Cahir. I think it was there 20 years. Now it is gone; it was scrapped. Some of the Government bodies sucked the staff away and it is gone. It is not there any more to advise people how to save energy when we need it most. The decisions that the Government is making are absurd. The demands the Government is making on people are abominable. It will not work. The Government is too much stick and not enough carrot. Is mór an trua é sin.

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