Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1195: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to incentivise people to move towards greater energy efficiency in their homes. [19938/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Actions to promote energy efficiency in the residential sector will be set out in the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan, which I am publishing for public consultation very shortly. The Action Plan will set out details of current and planned initiatives taken to achieve a 20% reduction in energy demand across the whole economy by 2020.

The revised Building Regulations will lead to a 40% improvement in the energy performance of houses built to the new standard compared to the existing standard. This was made possible by the House of Tomorrow Programme run by Sustainable Energy Ireland. That Programme has, for a number of years, been preparing the house building sector for higher energy performance requirements. Having achieved its objective, the next step is to prepare the market for even higher energy performance requirements, leading in a relatively short number of years to zero carbon housing.

Other critical actions on energy efficiency in the residential sector include raising awareness and achieving real behavioural change through the Power of One campaign and the Programme for Government commitment to have smart meters installed in all homes throughout the country. We have other challenges to overcome in the transport sector and other sectors of the economy, which will be highlighted in the Energy Efficiency Action Plan.

I expect the full range of our actions in the residential sector to contribute more than half of the energy savings required to achieve our 20% savings target for 2020. We will also introduce in 2008 a new support measure to ensure improved insulation in peoples homes as proposed in the Programme for Government.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1196: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the date on which he will ensure that the ESB installs a new smart electronic meter in every home. [19939/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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In line with the Programme for Government commitment to ensure that the ESB installs smart electronic meters in every home, I have requested my Department to work as a priority with ESB Networks, Commission for Energy Regulation and Sustainable Energy Ireland to expedite a costed national smart meter roll-out programme, building on research and pilot projects to date as well as best international practice.