Mr. David Flannery:

Of course. There are always going to be costs associated with the work but the value to the homeowner should be evident right from the outset.

In terms of the reference earlier to a costing of €50,000, that is probably an average of what we see, but there is no one particular house; there is a multitude of houses. The price may go from €30,000 to €70,000 or even beyond that. That is an eye-watering sum for anyone to consider, so the transition must be explained to the homeowner in a clear way. People must know what they are going to get and have confidence that what has been recommended will deliver it. We can see from our analysis of work that we have carried out that 60% to 70% in savings is possible. When one does it properly, one can see the long-term payback. One can work it out. When one blends it with the right type of financial offer and the closer one brings that to ten or 15 years the more sense it will make to the public. The message must be communicated very clearly by an independent professional that is trusted. That is our view in terms of how we go forward.

The pilot programme has been very successful in terms of switching contractors and others onto what it means to deep retrofit but it is a pilot and we acknowledge that. We are looking forward to a scheme that is year 'round. The timescale for delivery is March-April to November-December, which may be extended, but they are the confines in which we are working. What we do find with those constraints is that contractors who are trying to dedicate themselves to retrofit in the long term let go staff or take staff on a part-time basis and that will limit their capacity to deliver. Across the board, we see a difficulty in committing to deep retrofitting without there being a predictable programme for both the contractor and the homeowner.