Councils must switch to lower cost LED streetlights – Ó Muirí

Taxpayers are paying far more expensive public electric bills for councils that are lagging behind when it comes to switching to energy efficient street lights.

Fine Gael TD Naoise Ó Muirí said local authorities across the country must lead by example and switch to LED lights.

He said the lower bills for energy saver LED street lights is a no brainer with one local authority reportedly saving €500,000 a year in bills after an overhaul of the public lighting.

Deputy Ó Muirí, who is Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy said “our local authorities need to be leaders in reducing carbon footprint and promoting eco-friendly practices.

“By switching, these lights can increase brightness, maximise energy savings, and reduce CO2 emissions across the public lighting network.

“Some local authorities have worked really hard to make these changes. Kildare County Council have changed 83pc of their streetlights to LEDs.

“But Dublin City Council (DCC) is really lagging behind with only 39pc changed. Our city centre is far from reaching its target in this regard.

“The impact these changes have on electricity bills is huge. Laois County Council, which has changed 70% to LEDs, recently reported that the swap over had saved €500,000 a year. This is a major saving that benefits taxpayers across the county,” the Fine Gael TD said.

There are more than 480,000 public lights across Ireland, which cost more than €56m to operate each year. The energy these lights consume accounts for half of all the energy consumed by local authorities.

“The LED lamps are also very beneficial to councils because they are easier to maintain and can last longer.

“DCC need to address why they’ve made such slow progress in replacing these bulbs. If we want to reach our sustainability goals this is a step that has a huge impact.

“Our capital city can’t be falling behind on this. We need DCC to follow the lead of other counties and replace these lights across the city centre,” concluded Deputy Ó Muirí.