Ms Laura McDonnell:

Last year, the Irish Council for Social Housing conducted research into AHBs and how their residents were managing the impact of the cost of living. Of those residents, 37% reported that heating their homes was unaffordable. That is what we are seeing on the ground in Clúid. Fuel poverty is being cited more frequently in tenancy sustainment and arrears cases. We are considering various methods to help our residents reduce their energy bills. This meeting is discussing retrofitting. Clúid has a retrofitting project ongoing. Last year alone, we retrofitted 430 of our homes. EnergyCloud is another method we are using to help our residents reduce their bills.

Deputy Ó Cuív referred to houses with many men, including sons, living in them. It reminded me of how one of our residents mentioned how she had three sons in her house and how EnergyCloud had been a blessing for her, allowing her to manage that. We are considering who among Clúid’s 11,000 homes and 29,000 residents needs it most with a view to prioritising them for roll-out and activation. Anything we can do is very important for our residents. We would be grateful for any support we get in rolling it out further.