Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Senator Brian Hayes made a valid point about how people can be locked in their own communities in cities and the country. People in Dublin's inner city districts lock and bar their doors at 7 p.m. and are afraid to venture out after this hour. This issue faces quiet people and elderly people around the country and should be debated.

I ask the Acting Leader to respond to me on the question of Ireland's progress towards implementing the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. I recently raised the fact that the EU insulation directive, which requires every new house and every house offered for sale to have a certificate of insulation, comes into operation on 4 January 2006. I understand the Government has given an period of grace to construction initiatives for the following two years, which is appalling. This development puts Ireland outside the demands of the EU and worsens its position regarding the Kyoto Protocol. A more adverse development is the fact that houses are being built, particularly in Dublin, with 9 inch hollow concrete blocks. It is not possible to use this block to raise a house to the insulation standard found in other houses. We must discover why the practice of using this block has not ceased. The involvement of the HomeBond scheme in this issue raises questions of self-regulation.

The Government and the ESB have taken the retrograde step of informing the wind farmers' association that its members cannot apply for connection to the national grid for the next two years. Wind farms are being built around the country, the Government is attempting to persuade people to save energy and we are not harnessing natural energy. Why did the Government and the ESB decide to take this step? Vested interests in the concrete industry and the energy sector are at work here. How can we address this issue? The single housing issue could be resolved. If every new house was required to have a 1 kw wind energy generator and solar panels for water heating, in addition to proper insulation, we would save approximately 30% of our requirements under the Kyoto Protocol. I would welcome a debate on this issue.