Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to move towards zero-carbon homes and the timeframe in which he envisages this happening. [14195/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government contains a commitment to further improve the energy efficiency of new buildings with a view to moving towards carbon neutral homes in the longer term. In tandem with this commitment, Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings requires EU Member States, inter alia, to ensure that all new buildings will be nearly zero-energy by 31 December 2020 (or by 31 December 2018 in the case of new buildings owned and occupied by public authorities). The Directive broadly defines a 'nearly zero-energy building' as a building with a high energy performance where the very low amount of energy required should, to a very significant extent, be met by energy from renewable sources, including renewable energy produced on-site or nearby.

Against this background, Ireland has been making significant progress in terms of both improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide emissions within the built environment. Taking the energy efficiency requirements established in 2005 as the benchmark, the Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulations 2007 set the requirements necessary to achieve a 40% improvement (over the 2005 standards) in the energy and carbon performance of new dwellings. These regulations came into effect on 1 July 2008 subject to certain transitional arrangements.

Furthermore, I have recently signed the new Building Regulations (Part L Amendment) Regulations 2011 and will be publishing the accompanying Technical Guidance Document L - Conservation of Fuel and Energy - Dwellings 2011 shortly. The new regulations aim to build on the substantial improvements already introduced under the 2007 regulations and will deliver a 60% aggregate improvement (relative to 2005 standards) in both the energy and carbon performance of new buildings when the regulations take effect on 1 December 2011.

The new regulations mark an important step on the road to carbon neutrality and put Ireland at the forefront of EU Member States in terms of energy efficiency standards for new dwellings. Already there are signs that Irish builders and manufacturers are innovating and adapting their approaches and products to meet the standards of the proposed regulations. This is important in terms of continuing the development of the market for energy efficient buildings and products domestically while also increasing the considerable potential that exists for high energy efficiency products in export markets. The proposed regulations are important in maintaining the momentum that has been created in this regard.

My Department is also working on the development of a strategy for achieving a carbon neutral framework for dwellings in order to meet our obligations under Directive 2010/31/EU within the prescribed timeframe. It is anticipated that a carbon neutral framework will require further amendments to the building regulations over and above the recently introduced requirements.