Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the measures he has taken to promote condensed boilers. [26599/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The House of Tomorrow programmes of Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) stimulate the widespread take-up of more sustainable energy planning, specification and construction practices in both new home building and the home improvement markets.

Among the demonstration projects funded under the House of Tomorrow programme are many featuring condensing boilers which show a higher efficiency in their use of energy. The experience in these pilot projects is a valuable input to consideration of policy options for the future.

In order to comply with the requirements of Article 8 of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), SEI is also developing a programme for the promotion of energy efficient boilers and boiler servicing in Irish homes. The first step in the programme is the development of a national database that will provide details regarding the efficiency of home-heating appliances which are placed on the market in Ireland.

The database will have two functions (1) to provide data on heating appliance efficiency for the energy rating of homes to meet the requirements of the EPBD and (2) to provide general consumer information on the efficiency of heating appliances available for purchase in Ireland.

The database will be known as the Home-heating Appliance Register of Performance (HARP) Database and is expected to be published in September 2006. The appliances will be listed in order, with the most efficient appliances placed at the top of the list. This will serve to highlight and promote the more efficient heating appliances that are available on the market, such as condensing boilers.

The registration process involved will also enable the Government to ensure that all boilers listed in the database comply with the requirements of the Boiler Efficiency Directive, which sets minimum energy efficiency requirements for boilers placed on the market.