THE Senate is holding an inquiry after a spate of electrocutions and house fires has been blamed on the Federal Government's home insulation scheme.

As reported in the Journal last week, fire authorities and Energy Safe Victoria were concerned by a number of recent house fires started by insulation igniting on halogen downlights.

Flinders MP and Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt and the Federal Coalition moved the inquiry in Parliament on Thursday looking at alleged dangers and rorting in the scheme that grants home owners up to $1600 for ceiling insulation.

"Fires inside roof cavities can be all the more dangerous because there usually aren't smoke alarms up there to provide an early warning of the smoke and flames," he said.

"There are growing fears that a rush of ill-trained and inexperienced insulation installers are creating serious risks for homeowners under the $2.7billion cash splash."

A Metropolitan Fire Brigade report, released last week, showed there had been 41 fires caused by downlights between January 2008 and October 2009.

Almost half those fires (20) were caused by new (12) or existing (8) insulation coming into contact with downlights.

"Despite a media campaign by both the MFB and Energy Safe Victoria it seems that some professional tradesmen are still careless when installing insulation or other appliances around existing downlights in the roof space," the report stated.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Peter Garrett did not reply before deadline.

He told the Journal last month that any fire potentially linked to the program was reviewed, and random roof inspections of the relevant installers' work were conducted as a matter of priority.

Installers were subject to a comprehensive audit and risked penalties if they broke the law, he said.