Mr. Michael Manley:

I will take the Deputy's series of queries, starting at the end. Aggregation is defined in the climate action plan as an area-based approach, which would bring together a standardisation of approach, aggregation of skill sets, aggregation of finance and aggregation of expertise. This is very much in focus. Action No. 46 provides for setting up a taskforce on that, which is already being activated.

On the matter of landlords, it is a very difficult issue to manage because the current position of those in the rental sector is very difficult. It is a very tight market at the moment and increasing the standards in an already tight market is difficult to manage, but it does have to be part of our future. It is very much in focus and is also identified in the climate action plan.

The Deputy asked about Energiesprong method. It is cited as one of the examples in the programme. It is a very attractive proposition that provides a total offering to the householder whereby they get a technical assurance as well as the physical work. It brings finance to the process also. It is fine to say it is a good model but we need to look at how it might be made to work in Ireland. Our tenure is very different from that on the Continent. We do not tend to have corporate bodies with large housing stocks on similar sites where they can actually decant one group and move people through it. Nonetheless, the system offers the future.

On the issue of ventilation, I am not an expert and I am sure the representatives from Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, can be more accurate on that question with regard to how one looks at managing airflow in a very tightly sealed building. The sealing of a building in itself will not work, so airflow is important.

On the 30 year period for finance, it would not be set in stone. When looking at very large sums of money for deep retrofitting of housing spreading that at near zero cost over longer periods can make it a much more attractive proposition. Again, it is an element that has to be looked at. Action No. 54 in the climate action plan looks very much at developing a new financing model.

The Deputy is correct that if we were to move away from the smaller grants it would not be very attractive, but action No. 52 - the third bullet point - proposes to develop the proposal for the phase-out of grants for shallow energy retrofitting measures by 2022. It is there in black and white in the plan. There will be myriad changes across the board.