I thank my colleague Mr Ross for securing the Adjournment debate. I welcome the opportunity to support the views of my other colleagues in East Antrim.

Northern Ireland has the highest rate of fuel poverty in the United Kingdom, with one in three households suffering its effects. Given that we are trying to eradicate fuel poverty for all by 2016, now is a good time to extend the gas network throughout Northern Ireland in general and to East Antrim in particular. That will give people more ways to heat their homes, bearing in mind some of the latest figures available for that area — 23% of homes in Carrick and 36% of those in Larne are unable to heat their homes adequately, which is quite a statistic for an area that is part of the greater Belfast area.

It seems unfair that those homeowners on benefits and low incomes are also missing out on applying for the full provision offered by the warm homes scheme. Simply because they do not have the natural gas option, many do not meet the warm homes scheme criteria. With its existing limited gas network, East Antrim has one of the lowest uptakes of help from the warm homes scheme. That is the remit of a different Department, but it has an impact.

As has been pointed out by other Members, it is disappointing that Phoenix Natural Gas will not be extending the licence to Whitehead in the late spring of this year. However, perhaps some work may be done on that and the situation will change as the year progresses, and the disappointment suffered by people in some 1,800 properties may be overturned.

Homeowners and businesspeople in Whitehead are not the only ones to be disappointed. For the majority of people, particularly those who live in other rural areas of East Antrim, heating their house or business with natural gas is not an option. Firmus Energy has not yet reached the area, giving Phoenix the monopoly in areas that are connected to the network. High fuel costs have forced people into fuel poverty, and, if other gas companies were able to extend into the area, Phoenix might be forced to offer some more competitive tariffs to our constituents.

Historically, natural gas is the most cost-effective fuel available to more than 20 million industrial, commercial and residential customers in Great Britain. It is time that we helped to extend our gas network across constituencies such as East Antrim. There are also health and safety benefits to be considered when weighing up the reasons behind installing gas supplies. In comparison to oil, the gas industry’s charges, service delivery and safety are highly regulated, and, notably, some companies offer free annual boiler services to all of their customers within 20 working days of receiving a request.

We need only consider the impact that our freezing weather has had on oil heating systems throughout the Province in the past few weeks, during which many schools have been forced to close due to heating system breakdowns caused by freezing pipes, an impact that might be limited if other forms of energy were used, including natural gas. In fact, I rarely hear of anyone who complains that his or her gas system has broken down. However, people who have oil central heating appear to have endless problems, particularly in certain environmental conditions.

Environmentally, compared with alternative fuels, natural gas industrial and commercial customers prevented more than 6,250 tons of sulphur dioxide from entering the atmosphere in 2007. That is equivalent to a cloud of polluted air over one mile high covering the whole of Northern Ireland. Domestic customers prevented 1,450 tons of sulphur dioxide from entering the air. Those figures are not to be laughed at.

Extending our gas network will provide much-needed employment and give us an opportunity to increase our skilled workforce, as some Members outlined, and provide opportunities for apprenticeship placements. Increasing the provision of gas will make Northern Ireland more profitable for inward investors who are looking to locate their businesses in a MP to represent them....">constituency with energy choice. That would be welcome.

Therefore, extending the gas network will help to address fuel poverty. It will make East Antrim a cleaner, healthier place to live, and it will give customers a reliable and modern way of heating their homes at a competitive price, while, at the same time, providing our engineering and construction industries with more employment opportunities. I look forward to the Minister’s response to this serious issue, and I thank Mr Ross for securing the Adjournment debate.