David Norris (Independent)

I would also like to compliment my colleague, Senator O'Toole, on tabling this motion. I know the Senator and Senator Brian Hayes have been pushing this matter. When I was considering it myself, I thought I had struck it lucky because I found something that was so absurd it would grab the attention of the House. Senator O'Toole beat me to it.

I am referring to this extraordinary and shameful Department memo pointed out by the Senator which states the Department does not want to signal the situation to the outside because it might create some difficulties for hollow block manufacturers. It is staggering that the welfare of the country, our commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and the welfare of people purchasing these homes should be of less significance than a section of the building industry to which, lamentably, this Government appears to be still in thrall. That is something which is utterly shameful and which has not been faced in any contributions. I sincerely hope the Minister of State will have the guts to address the issue and apologise for this utterly shameful and unforgivable attitude. I hope the Irish people get to know a bit about this memorandum, the cynical attitude and the favouring of one section. There was a green cement company here but the Government did absolutely nothing to encourage it because of its commitments to the major cement groups. That is absolutely regrettable.

We are in a boom, and many houses are being built. From time to time the Government compliments itself on the number of houses being built. The problem with this is that houses consume much energy and produce various by-products. Buildings of all types account for at least 40% of our energy consumption, with a cost of €3.5 billion a year. As a result, and particularly with the projected rise in mortgages, young people especially will find great difficulties.

I am quoting to a certain extent from an article in The Irish Times by Mr. Frank McDonald from a very fine series of investigative reports. He quotes Sustainable Energy Ireland in estimating the average household's annual energy bill for electricity and space heating at approximately €1,700. Associated CO2 emissions are 8.5 tonnes a year for each household. One of the reasons for this is that the building of the houses is not energy efficient, as Senator O'Toole has indicated, particularly with the hollow block construction.

We have known this for a long time. Some ten, 20 or 30 years ago I remember people talking about the need to insulate houses, even just to keep the heat in. We were not worrying about Kyoto at that stage. We have done precious little to address this subject. This places the memo in a singularly cynical condition.

The new regulations were not introduced until 2002, and there was an exemption for planning permissions lodged before the end of the year. The consequence of that was nearly 300,000 homes being built with the old standards. They were energy inefficient. The Government, as I have stated, put the interests of one section of the cement industry above everything else.

We are part of the European Union. Whether it comes early or late and whether we procrastinate, delay and seek derogations, we will have to face our obligations eventually. The European Union is involved in this area through the performance of a buildings directive. Under that, every house offered for sale or rent will be required to have a building energy rating. It will be just like the labelling spoken of earlier.

Again, this was supposed to come into effect on 1 January 2007 for new houses.