Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 24 March 2022

Public Accounts Committee

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Financial Statements 2020

9:30 am

Photo of Colm BurkeColm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I apologise to him and to our guests for being late for the meeting. I had a number of prior engagements. I thank our guests for their presentation.

I wish to raise number of questions, some of which may have been covered already. My apologies if that is the case. One of my concerns relates to the timeframe, namely, from the time an application is lodged to the inspection taking place. I was contacted by one person recently and it took two years from the time the application for the inspection to be carried out. Are there targets in place? I am aware that Covid happened during those two years. The house of the person involved was built with cavity blocks, not cavity walls, so one can imagine the waste of energy involved. The person made an application for approval by the SEAI but it was two years before someone came to inspect the house. This person was also told that the SEAI would engage with the contractor to do the work. What is the expected timeframe from start to finish? Have targets been set? I accept that there may have been a problem with inspectors. Additional moneys have been allocated and staff are to be employed. Will targets be set over the next 12 months? If so, what will they be? How will the SEAI assess matters in the context of delivery?

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