Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am in Leinster House. The discussion is very interesting. I was struck by a few matters, one of which relates to the information on the case studies. I am conscious Dr. Daly and Dr. Engel Purcell also mentioned information. In terms of public leadership regarding public buildings, there is perhaps not as much as I would like, but there are conversations about social housing retrofit - possibly not as much as it could be - but there is a public-first approach, which the renovation wave is talking about at an EU level. Then we have a creation of a new market. We have had some very good discussion on the need for it to have proper oversight. There is also the issue of retrofitting public buildings. I am interested in hearing about what would ideally be a public renovation or retrofitting service which for the next few years would front-load work in terms of social housing and public buildings. That would be a preferred option but, at a minimum, we could have a public procurement contract whereby a lot of public refurbishment, renovation and retrofitting would be happening. In that context, it was mentioned that a lot of risk goes on the individual, especially in areas where the data are not there to the same extent, such as in historic buildings and in older buildings, but if the State was leading in terms of doing a substantial amount of renovation and retrofitting of public buildings, including historic buildings, and then sharing that information it would raise standards in the sector.

The witnesses mentioned the case studies they are tracking. It strikes me that this is a matter in respect of which we need to move on quite fast. It is useful to have the information from Scotland, and to hear about thermal curtains and shutters. So many shutters all around the country were painted shut at a certain point, but they were one of the most efficient pieces that were there. Do we need to have a public programme of retrofitting public buildings, and not just that but their being renovated and repurposed, in order that the information is gathered and that we are not just talking about a specific product people are trying to fit into a listed building?

A related issue is skills development. We talked a lot about the progression pathways in retrofitting and about security of employment, which is very important. In terms of some of the crafts, there has been a push in a particular direction. There seems to be a need for what might have been regarded as heritage crafts or traditional crafts. I refer to the skills associated with repair and refurbishment, both which are often quite time-intensive activities. Should that be part of the new skills development in terms of the environment and energy efficiency so that we can keep buildings in use for the future?