Dr. Ciaran Byrne:

I might take the first part of the Deputy's question and then pass some of the other elements to my colleagues in research. To be clear, in the context of the Deputy mentioning eligibility for the warmer homes scheme, for the fully-funded scheme, a wide range of social welfare payments will qualify people, including those receiving the fuel allowance. This captures some of the people the Deputy mentioned, and includes those receiving the one-parent family payment, the domiciliary care allowance, jobseeker's with children under seven receiving payments and those on the carers allowance. The substantive point, though, is the gap when people have a carbon-based, gas or oil boiler that is coming to the end of its life. What is available on the menu at the moment in this case is a heat pump replacement. There is a gap in this regard, because one of the critical criteria in respect of heat pump installation is ensuring that the envelope of a home is appropriately insulated.

I think the Deputy will appreciate that we are on this journey. I say this because we will be talking about different technologies in 2030, and beyond that, than we are in 2023. We are, though, examining widening the menu for all intents and purposes in respect of what we can do concerning decarbonising heat technologies. I refer to electrical methods, for example. We looked at a product recently involving heat pumps on a hot water tank. We are also looking at electrical radiators in various rooms, and things like this. I will ask Ms McCarthy to talk about the wider question asked.