Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his plans, to introduce a ban on ordinary light bulbs to ensure a move to reasonably priced long life bulbs as seen in Australia recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter in view of Ireland's moves in relation to the plastic bag tax initiative. [8967/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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My Department continues to analyse all the options available with regard to the promotion of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs).

Taking the life of a CFL as 6,000 hrs, in use 3.5 hrs a day for almost 5 years, the savings to each customer for replacing just one traditional 100w bulb with a 20w is €78 over the lifetime of the bulb or approximately €16 per year. In one year, the collective savings, if approximately 2 million households in Ireland changed one traditional bulb with a CFL, is €32 million.

As part of the Power of One campaign, this Government is extensively promoting the use of CFLs in all media including TV, radio, press and web. There are enormous benefits from using CFLs in terms of reduced power generation, lower CO2 emissions and money saved and we will continue to strongly encourage their use.

In addition the Bioenergy Action Plan for Ireland, which I launched on Sunday 4 March, gives a commitment that the public sector must lead the way on energy efficiency with a mandatory programme of efficiency measures including the sole use of energy efficient lighting in offices, hospitals and other public buildings.