Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is an area in my constituency, Churchfield Avenue, being done. I believe it is about 120 houses. However, that is only a quarter of the estate. Allen Square and Wolfe Tone Street were done, but Mary Aikenhead next door was not. Now there are neighbours with half the energy bills, much better heating and much better quality of life living next to people who do not have it and might not have it for years. We say it is not a funding issue, but if it is not a funding issue, why is the whole of Churchfield not going to be done? There are so many more areas. I am hearing on the ground that Cork City Council has done some very good projects, but there are 10,500 social houses, and that is without even getting into the SEAI scheme.

What I believe and I am seeing on the ground, and I was a councillor for 12 years before I was elected to the Dáil, is that we have been talking retrofitting while there have been people who would have been on me to get their homes retrofitted who are no longer with us. Unfortunately, there are people I am dealing with now who, by the time their houses get done, will probably be no longer with us either. That is not right. The Government needs to be much more supportive and there needs to be more funding for the local authorities.

Then there is the question of it all being contracts. A decision was taken over the lifetime of recent governments to privatise work that local authorities are doing. We should have our own local authority plumbers, carpenters and masons. We should have our own people to do solar panels, retrofitting and insulations. Relying on contractors is an issue. I came from a working-class area and I know loads of guys who can earn more money without being involved in these schemes, and instead work on new constructions, whether it is building new houses or extensions. Therefore, if we are waiting on contractors, we are in the height of trouble.