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

I have a point for the Chairman. I was in the private sector before I came here and I know that when you are installing anything like energy-efficient lighting, you must recoup the cost in three years. Many businesses and people would think that seven years is too long. That is just from a business point of view. The reason for this is that the technology will be outdated in seven years and you will need to go again. If we are looking at incentivising people to install new technologies such as solar panels, from my experience I believe we should be looking at getting the money back within a three or four-year window and for the technology to continue working for a few years after that because, if it needs to be replaced at that point, you are not really making money. I just wanted to give the Chairman a bit of insight on that.