Green Party Senator, Déirdre de Búrca welcomed today’s announcement by Minister for the Environment (10 Jan. 08) that he has received the European Commission’s support for the Irish plans to introduce minimum energy efficiency standards for light bulbs from early next year.

Minister Gormley was told Vice-President Verheugen in a meeting in Brussels yesterday that the Irish Government’s plans fit closely with the Commission’s intentions to propose a community –wide approach on minimum energy efficiency standards for light bulbs.

Vice-President Günter Verheugen, informed Minister Gormley that in light of Ireland’s initiative, the Commission would be ready to accelerate its own planned regulation as much as possible.

Senator de Búrca said: ‘’I welcome the full engagement and support of the European Commission on Ireland’s plans to set minimum energy efficiency standards for light bulbs. I particularly welcome the Commission’s commitment to accelerate its own planned regulations in light of Ireland’s intervention on the issue.’’

Senator de Búrca says that a full public consultation will take place in the coming weeks and months, and the opinions and input of all relevant parties and stakeholders will be sought. She says that Irish officials will also begin work on liaising closely with the Commission to ensure that the Irish proposals are consistent with those in the pipeline in Europe.  

‘’There has been a lot of misinformation and scare mongering in the last week on the proposals’’ says Senator de Búrca. ‘’The approach taken by Minister Gormley will be pragmatic, and will take into account any legitimate concerns and issues regarding the drafting of the standards. That is why the Government has allowed for a full twelve months before any standards would come into force. We are only at the beginning of this process.’’  

De Búrca says that the safe disposal of CFLs should not be a problem for any member of the public. ‘’Any retailer who sells CFLs is already legally obliged to take back waste CFLs when supplying a new one under the (WEEE) Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment Directive’’ she says.  

‘’The ultimate aim of this measure is to increase energy efficiency in Irish homes and businesses by facilitating a move to energy-efficient light bulbs. Ultimately it will lead to savings of more than €180 million a year for Irish consumers and reduce emissions in Ireland by 800,000 tonnes or one per cent of its total. This measure is good for the environment and good for people.

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Press Release by Deirdre