The new programme for government: good or bad for energy, buildings and the environment?

Most of the national media's focus on the new programme for government has naturally centred around Fine Gael and Labour's economic plans. But what does the document say about the government's policies on buildings, energy and the environment? I went through it this morning to pick out the highlights. There appear to be good intentions, but much of the language remains vague. That's par for the course with a document that has to be drawn up as quickly as this.  We should start to hear more about specific policies in the coming months as new ministers are appointed and settle into their roles.

The new government says it will:

Energy efficiency in buildings

• double funding of home energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes (presumably the Home Energy Saving and Greener Homes schemes), but end them by 2014.
• introduce a 'pay as you save' scheme in 2014 to replace grants, allowing homeowners to pay for energy upgrades over time on their utility bills (Construct Ireland lobbied extensively for a scheme like this in 2009 and 2010)
• tender for a 'pay as you save' contract to insulate all public buildings
• move towards zero carbon homes "in the longer term" - what is meant by "zero carbon" and "longer term" is unclear. Will the new government keep the previous one's commitment to "zero carbon" new homes by 2013?
  

Energy

• establish Ireland as a "renewable manufacturing hub" and a "centre of excellence in the management of carbon" - exactly what these terms mean (particularly the latter) or how they will be achieved is not specified
• Merge Bora Na Mona with Coilte to create a new company called BioEnergy Ireland that will become a "global leader" in "next generation bioenergy technologies", and will plant 14,700 hectares of forestry annually
• publish a climate change bill to provide a "clear pathway for emissions reductions" in line with the EU's 2020 targets - this suggests the last government's climate change bill might be scrapped, as it was incorrectly perceived by the opposition to be tougher than the EU 2020 targets
• "legislate to support the geothermal energy sector"
• cluster new wind farms in areas with the best "wind regime" to reduce cost of connection to the grid - the idea here is for the government to plan the growth of wind farms rather than developers. But will this slow down the growth of the sector?
• aim to "maximise return to the Irish people" from offshore oil and gas reserves
• ensure that only the most "cost effective" projects are supported by the renewable energy feed in tariff, and set the tariff at a level "not significantly above" the all Ireland market price for electricity

Infrastructure

• accelerate capital works that are "shovel ready" and "labour intensive" - it's not clear what projects the government sees as meeting these criteria
• invest heavily, through semi state companies, in "next generation" infrastructure in energy, broadband, forestry and water over the next four years
• establish Irish Water, a new state company that will take over water investment and maintenance from local authorities
• create a new "smart grid" company with full ownership of Ireland's electricity and gas networks, following a handover of the ESB's "transmission assets" to Eirgird - is the removal of the network from ESB's remit a hint that the government is planning to privatise the company?
  

Other

• target up to €2 billion in sales from "non strategic state assets" - it's believed FG and Labour see Bord Gais and ESB as falling under this category
• "bring forward a coherent plan to resolve the problems associated with ghost estates" - no specifics are given
• commit to "urban regeneration to revitalise communities in areas such as Limerick" - again, the language remains vague
• require that the selling price of all dwellings is recorded on a public national house price database
• introduce a "mandatory compliance bond" to ensure construction waste is properly managed and recycled - I take this to mean that developers will have to pay a bond that will only be returned if they can demonstrate waste from a project was properly recycled or disposed of
  
• ratify the Aarhus Convention that gives the public access to information and participation in decision-making on environmental issues - green campaigners have been pushing for this one for a long time, but it was also in the 2007 programme for government and has yet to be fully implemented
• allow domestic turf cutting on 75 National Heritage Area sites subject to a "code of environmental practices"
• "re-balance transport policy in favour of public transport" - there are no specifics on the government's plans for public transport, however, except to establish a cabinet sub-committee on the issue and to support public bike schemes
• exempt farm diesel from further increases in the carbon tax