Mary Flaherty
Question:8 Miss Flaherty asked the Minister for Energy if he will immediately commence a major public education and awareness campaign to encourage efficiency and conservation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Energy Conservation.
A major campaign of the type referred to by the Deputy would be very costly. Bearing in mind the current state of the public finances and the need to limit Exchequer expenditure, the funds necessary to mount such a campaign are not available at the present time. I am not convinced in any event, that such a campaign would give the best return on the money invested compared with more targeted campaigns.
Targeted education and awareness campaigns aimed at specific sectors and subsectors of the economy and operated within budgetary constraints have for a number of years been a feature of my Department's ongoing energy conservation programme. Sectors and groups are identified by reference to the perceived scope for energy savings in that sector or group and promotional campaigns are structured with the nature of the particular group in mind. These measures often include seminars, conferences and workshops tailored to the needs of the particular group. They have proved to be extremely successful in bringing together the various interests involved in an individual sector to exchange information and new ideas in the area of energy efficiency.
The ESB are engaged in a campaign to promote efficiency and conservation in the use of electricity in accordance with their commitment to demand-side management. Whilst the campaign is broadly based it also targets particular areas of electricity consumption in the domestic, industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors of the economy.
I am deeply disappointed with the Minister's reply, as I thought all he needed was a tickle at the elbow before taking this proposal on board. The Minister said such a campaign would be too costly but it is estimated that the current level of waste runs at £400 million per annum and what could be more costly than that? Will the Minister confirm to the House that one of the major sectoral consumers of energy is the domestic consumer who has to meet both the need for energy and for heating in the household. This would be a very important group to target, as every penny spent on promoting conservation would be recouped many times over each year. Is it not the case, because of a cut of 28 per cent in the allocation for conservation, that in effect, the Minister has no money to spend in this area and has no serious commitment to it?
It is not exactly true to say that there has been a substantial cut in the amount of money allocated to this area.
It is a fact — it is in the Estimate.
If one examines the Estimates, one will see a substantial reduction but it must be borne in mind that the amount of money allocated each year since 1980 is around the £300,000 mark and we have continued with that level of allocation. Under a special Government programme, we added £500,000 to that. This was expected to have been spent in 1990 but there was a run on into 1991. However, that additional amount of money over and above the allocation has been accounted for in the 1990 and 1991 Estimates. The amounts of money allocated in the period from 1980 to 1992 are similar for every year and indeed the Deputy's party were in Government during this period.
The thrust of the Deputy's argument does not stand up to examination. There is no proof that throwing money at a campaign, as suggested by the Deputy, would necessarily achieve the objective, which is to conserve energy and thereby reduce our energy costs and emissions of pollution into the atmosphere. I believe that within the present financial constraints we have taken the wisest course in targeting our efforts where we can achieve the greatest possible success. In fact a great deal of work that the Department are doing in this area is not implemented by the Department but by Eolas who undertake quite a wide range of activities in promoting conservation in the industrial and commercial world in the public sector. It has to be remembered that the savings that are achieved in one year are repeated in subsequent years.
Yes, absolutely, and that is my point.
That is the additional advantage to be gained. I do not think that the Deputy and I disagree on the necessity to achieve the maximum degree of conservation in energy consumption because this has obvious benefits to the economy and to the environment, and I am certainly very committed to achieving this. I feel that we have been very successful given the present constraints.
The public, as individuals, have a major role to play in conserving their use of energy. On numerous occasions I have appealed to the public to respond positively to this, because everybody accepts the benefits and advantages of conserving energy. I do not wish to delay the House with a very long reply——
May I remind the House that we are dealing with Priority Questions to which a rigid time limit applies.
——but I can supply the Deputy — although I had thought I had done so already — with a full list of the various measures taken by the Department, Eolas and other Departments, including the Department of the Environment, to achieve the maximum degree of energy conservation.
A Cheann Comhairle——
Please, Deputy Flaherty. The Chair has an obligation to try to ensure that the five Priority Questions before us are dealt with within the 15 minutes laid down in Standing Orders and to strive to achieve fair play in the whole matter.
I understand that but the Minister gave a substantive reply——
I have called Question No. 9 and it shall be responded to. Let us have brevity.