Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 878: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of houses that have received energy ratings and the breakdown of those ratings since it became law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23004/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Building Energy Rating (BER) Scheme was established under the European Communities (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 666 of 2006). Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), which operates under the aegis of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, has been designated as the Issuing Authority with responsibility for the management of the BER Scheme, including registration of the BER Assessors, logging of the BER assessments and ongoing management of the BER Scheme.

I understand from SEI that 1,171 Building Energy Rating Assessments have been logged for new dwellings since the requirement under the Regulations came into force on 1 January 2007. The breakdown of these ratings is set out in the following table.

Given that the transitional BER exemptions applying to new dwellings for which planning permission was applied for before the end of 2006 will end on 30 June, I anticipate that the number of BER assessments will rise significantly during the remainder of the year.