Mr. William Walsh:

I thank Deputy Murphy very much for his question. From our perspective, as Mr. Byrne mentioned, the national retrofit task force commissioned a body of work which looked at different models adopted elsewhere in the world. It also engaged internally in Ireland Inc. with the Construction Industry Federation and a whole host of stakeholders. This is the model that was adopted.

To give one note of caution, which relates to Deputy Whitmore's comments, we do not have any time to lose here or to stop and think about what else we could do. It is crucially important that this retrofit plan drives forward. We believe we have ensured, insofar as possible, that this is effective and efficient from a value-for-money perspective in terms of Exchequer funding, carbon tax revenue, etc. It has taken us probably four years to get ourselves into the space we are now in, registering one-stop shops for a comprehensive scheme with the private sector on board and funding available in the NDP. Those wheels do not move fast but we are in a good space now to spring forward and deliver the homes we need to deliver the carbon savings provided for under the climate Act as well as our sectoral emissions.

What is powerful about this figure of 3.5 million tonnes is that is down to a citizen level. It is a matter of individuals. It is a matter of what people understand and about asking citizens of Ireland to do something. From that perspective, it is very much asking people to do their piece and control what is controllable within their environment.