Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, reviews the criteria for grants. The warmer homes scheme applies and there was a three-year pilot scheme of 900 homes in a specific community healthcare organisation area, namely, CHO 7. It differed in that it was not just a grant. The HSE was also working on it to identify the clients and in so doing it secured a lower fall-off of people who considered it. There was a very high take-up. It was a pilot to see would this have an impact on health, as well as on energy. It is drawing together the evidence.

In the long term, we have to find a way. We will always be funding people with low incomes and poor health and we will have to find the resources for that. We will not be able to fund all the change that happens in the household sector. We will have to find some ways to encourage people other than from State grants to bring the building energy rating, BER, for their houses up. That is one of the challenges. We will not have the money to fund all the change that is needed on this agenda. We have to recognise that while coming up with clever grant schemes is a small part of it, the estimate is €50 billion in housing alone and the State will not be able to fund that across all sectors. We have to think outside the box to find other instruments to encourage the funding of these changes.