Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy got up to approximately 11 minutes and managed to name every street in north Cork, which is quite impressive.

I want to bring this back to why we are doing this. When we speak about energy efficiency in buildings, we concentrate on emissions and energy usage. We quantify the energy and its cost. Much of the time we do not focus the discussion on the benefits that accrue to people who live in energy-efficient buildings, including health benefits and a better quality of life. There is also the creation of a building stock for future generations to purchase and for people to grow up in that would be sustainable and affordable. It would ensure future generations could have healthy and clean homes in which to live. It is something we lose in this debate some of the time. We concentrate a great deal on science and engineering but there are people behind this as well.

To follow up a point Deputy Gould started, we know good targets are being met in the warmer homes scheme and good targets will be met in the local authority retrofitting. I assume we are dealing with people in the lowest quality housing first and the people most at risk of fuel poverty. Mr. Armstrong mentioned a figure of 60,000 and not all of those would be of a poor energy standard because they may have been built recently. It is important to recognise that.

I know from frequent discussions that some people think the grant system is great but where will they get €24,000 or €25,000 to do the job? Has the Department produced a ready reckoner so people can see what is required for a four-bedroom or three-bedroom semi-detached house or a detached house? It would indicate the average energy usage for the house every year, the annual cost, and with a 20-year low-cost loan to get the work done, it would work out the weekly or monthly cost or benefit. It would also take in health and quality of life benefits. Everybody wants a better future and quality of life and health for their children who are being brought up in these houses. Has that been done? Perhaps it is a question for the SEAI witnesses.