Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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101. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the joint north-south study on air quality, if he agrees that in order to avoid fuel poverty alternative energies and fuels must be available at affordable prices before any ban is imposed on bitumen coal. [33797/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The ban on the marketing, sale and distribution of bituminous fuel (or ‘smoky coal ban’ ) was first introduced in Dublin in 1990 in response to severe episodes of winter smog that resulted from the widespread use of smoky coal for residential heating with consequential health impacts, often on those in lower socio-economic areas where its use predominated and where air quality was worse.  Air quality monitoring carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that the ban proved very effective in reducing particulate matter and sulphur dioxide levels in Dublin. The ban was subsequently extended in several phases and now applies in 27 cities and towns, including all urban areas with a population greater than 15,000 people.

The burning of solid fuel for residential heating makes a disproportionate contribution to air pollution, which generally occurs within residential communities where it is most used and where exposure, including to vulnerable groups, can be highest. Products offered for sale in breach of the ban may be of inferior quality, creating more pollution in a person's community and in their ho me . Research indicated that the ban in Dublin resulted in over 350 fewer annual winter mortality deaths. Additional benefits of the ban were identified through the stimulation of a move away from solid fuels, which generally are less efficient and more polluting, to more efficient and less polluting gas and oil. The additional benefits in reduced fuel costs to consumers were estimated at €184 million per year.

Data from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) indicates that the effective cost of fuel for home heating using ‘smoky’ coal in an open fire is around 15 cent per kilowatt hour (c/kWhr) whereas the price for natural gas using a boiler meeting the Building Regulations is half that at around 7.5c/kWhr.

The SEAI data also indicated that while on an energy basis the cost of manufactured smokeless coal is marginally more expensive than ‘smoky’ coal (less than 5%), the more even burn of smokeless coal means that it can be managed so that it lasts longer and may be less expensive in overall terms. There are a wide range of modern smokeless coals and other products available that are cleaner, easy to burn, and which generally provide more energy per bag and more consistent heat over a longer period with both consumer and health and environmental benefits.

The Government has an energy poverty strategy; ‘Warmer Homes – A Strategy for Affordable Energy in Ireland’ which was published by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources towards the end of 2011.   The strategy identified the extent and impact of energy poverty, the existing measures in place and the actions required looking forward.

Energy poverty is a factor of income, energy prices and the thermal efficiency of the home.  The most cost-effective means of protecting households from energy poverty is to improve the thermal efficiency of the home.  The Better Energy Warmer Homes scheme (BEWH), administered by the SEAI, funds energy efficiency improvements in the homes of the elderly and vulnerable, making the homes more comfortable, healthier and more cost effective to run.