Mr. Brian O'Mahony:

Solar PV is a fantastic technology and we have seen the market in Ireland grow from 13 companies to over 150 now. We are seeing solar panels in many homes, businesses and communities in Ireland. We support solar technology in individual schemes, community energy grant schemes and the business scheme that we have now. It has a part to play. When one looks at a typical home, as was mentioned, approximately three quarters of the energy used is for heat and one quarter is for electricity. When one looks at that from a cost perspective at the moment, with electricity, oil and gas prices increasing, anywhere from one third to one half of someone's overall energy bill may be for electricity. Solar PV can potentially contribute in the region of one third of that. It can seem like this is what we should be putting all of our efforts into and scaling up. What is actually happening is that the solar market is growing really quickly. We have seen more than 40% growth year on year. That is essentially down to home owners who see what we call its kerb-side appeal. The solar market has a role to play but the harder effort is to get people to insulate their homes. The insulation in walls, in attics and in the boilers that people look at once a year, at most, are much more difficult and are the areas where we have to support home owners, businesses and communities to transition. Solar PV definitely has a place but it does not lead to the same decarbonisation or energy bill reduction that a retrofit provides. It definitely has a place and that is why it is part of our schemes. We see it as way of bringing people to the SEAI and putting them on the road to decarbonising their homes. The same applies with schools. Solar PV has a role to play in schools and through the community energy grant scheme we have supported some schools to install solar PV, along with energy monitoring, so that we can engage with both the schools and the students.