Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it is. It is not the only area in which the SEAI is expanding in that we are also expanding the warmer homes scheme. It is a challenge to design a new programme. I recognise that and I have asked the Secretary General of my Department to chair the group that is seeking to design a model that will scale up delivery. We have been working on the basis of largely individual applications for the warmer homes and better energy home schemes. The better energy communities scheme has involved some aggregated work. We have to move to a much more aggregated model if we are to hit the targets. We need to design that model. We are meeting the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, key local authorities and across the sectors of people we believe might assist, including the European Investment Bank, to design a model that will be robust, can be scaled up and will give people more confidence to take on the work that increasingly, people recognise they should be doing on their homes. There is upfront cost and the savings accrue slowly and many people find it hard to get access to upfront capital so we need to design a model that is easy for them to lock into.