Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 9 March 2023

Public Accounts Committee

2021 Financial Statements of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: Discussion

9:30 am

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is interesting that the conversation has been all about the operational issues, rather than the accounts before us. It shows, therefore, the strength of demand and the level of complexity in this area. I must acknowledge there are so many different schemes available to so many different people in different circumstances that it is inevitable we will have many of these clarification questions. I have always found the SEAI to be very helpful and on hand to help me answer them.

I wish to point out one policy area where public spending might be directed. This is the issue of homeowners who are not covered by many of the current schemes for 100% of the practical costs. For people who are council tenants and those receiving social welfare or fuel allowance payments, a wide range of measures are available to help them switch away from carbon options towards homes that are better insulated and use non-carbon solutions. Extensive grants are also available for what is a very expensive product, deep retrofitting. My concern is for those people who this week and next week will see their gas boilers coming to an end. They might really want to change to a non-carbon option, but without spending a significant amount of money, there does not seem to be an option available to them, or certainly, there is not an option that does not require a significant amount of finance. Do the witnesses from the SEAI accept this is a gap in the agency's current offering?

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