Fianna Fáil has bowed to builders' pressure to keep building standards low rather than preparing to cope with climate change and higher fuel prices, the Labour Party has charged.
Under major proposals yesterday, Labour said it would raise heating and insulation standards by 60 per cent, impose tougher planning rules and ban the use of hollow blocks in houses.
The stiffer rules are part of Labour's promise to cut Ireland's carbon dioxide emission limits back to levels agreed in the Kyoto Treaty, and lower over time.
"The relationship between the building industry and the dominant political party has meant that it has been more amenable than it might otherwise have been the case," said the Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte.
The "excessive influence" of the industry on politics has to be addressed, he said, though in a way that would not reduce the number of houses being built.
Every new house built from 2008 should be 60 per cent more efficient in water and room heating, while those built from 2012 should go even further.
The Labour Party also said commercial developments, such as the proposed Ikea store in Ballymun, should not get planning permission until public transport links were in place.
While rural dwellers should be encouraged to build houses in the country in clusters, Labour was quick to insist that it would not interfere with current "one-off" housing rules.
Dublin Bus should get 500 extra buses and serve a 25-mile radius of the city centre, while fares should be set at €1 for adults and 50c for children for all routes.
On global warming and climate change, Dún Laoghaire TD Eamon Gilmore said there was, "as yet, little appreciation of the scale of the response required, and how this is to be reconciled with our country's economic experience and ambitions".
The Labour Party proposes setting up a Department of Climate Change, Environment and Energy with CO2 reduction promises set down in legislation.
A forum, similar to the one created in the 1980s to share opinions about Northern Ireland, should be established to create a national consensus.
However, global warming and higher fuel prices also offer Ireland an opportunity to develop world-class renewable energy technology, and low-carbon industries.
The Labour Party wants half of all electricity generation to come from renewable sources within 13 years, though both Mr Rabbitte and Mr Gilmore accepted yesterday that this was an extremely ambitious target.
Vehicle registration taxes (VRT) should be reformed to encourage people to buy smaller cars, though Labour ruled out introducing a carbon tax.
Such taxation would damage Ireland's competitiveness, said Mr Gilmore: "Much of the price of a litre of petrol is already tax, and that doesn't reduce use," he told The Irish Times.
Ireland should build electricity inter-connection links to the UK and the Continent, he said, while acknowledging that some of the electricity carried on them would come from nuclear plants.
However, there is no desire for nuclear plants to be set up in Ireland, said Mr Gilmore, speaking at the launch of the party's Cleaning Up Our Actpolicy document.
