asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline the energy conservation programme he intends to pursue and the projected annual cost of such a programme in each of the next five years.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Energy Conservation Programme.
21.
It has been the practice that energy conservation programmes and their funding, in common with many other areas of Government policy, are reviewed from year to year. The Estimates for the current year were prepared prior to the setting up of my Department and provision for a sum of about £1 million for energy conservation will, in due course, be transferred to my Estimate. I regard this sum as provisional in that it takes account only of programmes which were envisaged prior to the time the new Department of Energy was established.
In practice, this sum represents only a small proportion of total expenditure on energy conservation in the State sector as a whole. There are already in operation a wide range of conservation programmes and incentives in respect of public offices and buildings, insulation and thermal performance standards for houses, energy efficiency and conservation in industry and pilot work in relation to the use of residual heat resulting from electricity generation. There is in addition a very extensive programme being operated by the IIRS and funded by my Department which is aimed at conserving energy in many of its applications in industrial and commercial use. Included in this is a national boiler testing service which envisages testing every non-domestic boiler for consumption efficiency and reporting to the owner on its performance. The IIRS also provide a support service for the IDA to ensure that all new and existing grant-aided industries are energy efficient both in respect of the processes and buildings involved.
An immediate task for my Department will be to review all these programmes, to endeavour to assess their effectiveness in energy-saving and cost terms, to secure a greater degree of co-ordination among the various interests involved and to see what new major steps should be taken which would have a significant potential for energy saving. In this context I will be reviewing the effectiveness of previous general publicity campaigns on energy saving and considering the objectives and specific arrangements we should adopt for future measures of this kind.
Does the Minister agree that having a national energy conservation programme is as serious and as important as the discovery of new energy resources such as oil off our west coast is from the national point of view? Does the Minister agree that by contrast with any other EEC state our budget for energy conservation appears to be very inadequate? What assurance can the Minister give the House that this question of energy conservation which is taken seriously elsewhere will be considered in the same light here?
The Deputy is taking advantage of a supplementary to make a speech.
I consider conservation to be extremely important but to be only one element of a national energy policy. I have already indicated that there is a wide range of activity already in operation in the area of conservation but that I am reviewing it and endeavouring to coordinate and assess its potential. As a result of that I may well decide on certain other courses which are not being taken at present. This aspect of energy policy is important but it is only one element of such a policy.
(Cavan-Monaghan): Does the Minister agree that the withdrawal of the energy conservation grants by the Minister for the Environment will make it more difficult for him to implement a proper energy conservation programme? The Minister should appeal to the Minister for the Environment to restore those grants.
The answer to both of the Deputy's supplementaries is in the negative.
(Cavan-Monaghan): Can the Minister be serious when he says that his task in relation to the conservation of energy will not be made more difficult by the withdrawal of these grants by the Minister for the Environment?
Perhaps the Deputy has not appreciated the fact that the grants in question were effective in transferring the reliance on oil to a reliance on solid fuel but were not effective in reducing the consumption of energy which is what I am more concerned about. I assure the Deputy that I intend to bring forward proposals in substitution for that situation, proposals which I hope will result in a saving of energy and not merely in a switching over to another source, important as that may be.
(Cavan-Monaghan): Would the Minister agree that it is a matter of prime importance to discourage the use of expensive imported oil?
I am sure the Deputy appreciates that most of the coal we use is imported, too, and that it is becoming increasingly expensive.
(Cavan-Monaghan): What about the use of turf?
We are working on that.
The Deputy may not discuss every aspect of energy on this question.
(Cavan-Monaghan): It is difficult to corner the Minister.
A good deal of energy was wasted at the weekend.