Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is the point. We are trying to encourage people to carry out works, but the threshold one must reach is quite significant. While changes were made to the scheme to allow one to roll it over and build up the €5,000, many people do not think like that. They think they must get the windows or doors done, which can come in at €2,500, so they just get a contractor in to do that, and sometimes the contractor may be unregistered. They do not think about what else they can do. Sometimes they do not have the money. The figures tell us a story. The scheme is not working in the rural communities as it should. There is a disproportion in the value of the works carried out. They are mostly being carried out in Dublin and Cork, outside of which, counties such as Kildare and Wicklow are the ones that have the high uptake. Again, Limerick has quite a large uptake as well. However, Longford saw 175 properties come under the scheme in three years and Monaghan saw 185 over three years. That is fewer than 60 properties per year.

There is an issue and it is worth examining whether the threshold is the issue.