Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On the grants, we will not have a fuller picture as to the drawdown for a few weeks yet, but there has certainly been very good uptake of the grant schemes to date. The increases in recent years have proven very popular. There is always a challenge with sourcing skilled craftspeople and thatchers in particular. That is always an issue, as are materials. We need a certain degree of flexibility within the grant schemes to account for the availability of materials and the availability of craftspeople to work on the houses.