TWO GOVERNMENT publicity campaigns aimed at reducing carbon emissions and costing almost €12 million are "vanity projects" for Ministers, the Labour Party spokeswoman on energy and natural resources has said.
Liz McManus said the change.ie campaign by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, which would cost €6.3 million by the end of the year, and the Power of One campaign by Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan, costing €5.5 million, contained much duplication and had failed to persuade people to modify their behaviour. Her remarks follow publication of a survey yesterday which found that while a majority of people are concerned about the environment, few are willing to change their personal habits.
Change.ie urges people to reduce and avoid greenhouse gas emissions, while Power of One focuses on energy efficiency as a means of reducing emissions.
Ms McManus said the survey was evidence that public behaviour was not changing in the way it should be. "At heart, it is a vanity project for a minister to have this sort of campaign," she said.
She said a single campaign headed up by Taoiseach Brian Cowen and covering all areas associated with climate change would make more sense.
A spokesman for the Minister for the Environment said the accusation that the campaigns were vanity projects did not stand up to the facts. He said funding for the change.ie project was part of the programme for government before Mr Gormley took office.
Persuading people to change their habits was slow, he said, but was proving successful. Public awareness was vital and similar campaigns were being used in other countries successfully. He added both campaigns were being combined at present.
A spokeswoman for Mr Ryan said the Power of One campaign was in existence since 2005, long before Mr Ryan took office.
She said other surveys showed the campaign was changing the way people think. The European Commission had said it was an example of how mass awareness campaigns should work.She also said the budget for the campaign had been halved for next year as part of Government cutbacks.
