Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I was not going to go down the road of either person's argument. I was about to suggest looking at it differently. I agree it is a mistake not to outlaw hollow block building. I believe we should do that and there is an overwhelming argument for doing it. In terms of independent surveys, there is one to match the other. The Minister can say one, I can say Nicholas Stern. The Minister can say another, I can say UCD. The Minister can say "heat loss", I can say "heat maintained". I would prefer to use the international figure for the amount of energy it takes to heat a cubic metre of house space per year. We can argue up or down, one way or the other. I raised these issues with the Minister previously.

I noticed recently in one area in Spain a decision has been taken that all new houses must have solar panels installed. Why could we not insist in this legislation that every new house has solar panels attached to it? What would it cost? I have costed it and I have had it installed and know the exact energy savings. That the grant scheme has not been extended to cover wind generators is a mistake. That should be done. In terms of the carbon footprint, etc. the Minister and I know that methane is 20 times as dense as carbon and that methane is the real problem.