Mr. Seamus Hoyne:

I thank the Senator. With regard to quality assurance, there were issues with grant schemes in terms of renewable energy systems in that there was a mismatch between knowledge and experience and the types of systems installed. The registration process for the one-stop shops requires a detailed quality assurance process. From our experience in Tipperary, the typical approach is that where we work with a contractor doing a retrofit for the first time, we shadow him or her. A member of our design team works with the contractor to help him or her to ensure the work is done to the standard set out in all the specifications and guidelines of the SEAI. We also have to produce a BER before and after. As I mentioned in one of my previous contributions, we take a design-led approach. We do room-by-room assessments so we know that what is specified is appropriate for the building. Options for the retrofit are then agreed with the homeowner and the contractor is recruited to deliver them at the price agreed.

The one-stop shops are required to have quality assurance and oversight. Behind that is upskilling of the construction workers. Several education and training boards are now running courses on airtightness, ventilation system installation, external wall installation and all the installation products. We have national training centres. There are to be six around the country. The courses are short courses of one to three days. We put the relevant contract workers through the training. We also have training and education programmes for the engineers. Therefore, there is a multilayered approach to achieving quality assurance. It is a question of the right product in the right place in the right building, designed appropriately.

We have learned many lessons from the past. The SEAI has taken a very diligent approach. Getting through the one-stop shop registration process is rigorous. The board of Electric Ireland Superhomes has had much input into that with the team. Considering how the scheme is designed, I am confident we are avoiding risks.

On the supplementary question on Energiesprong, the theory is perfect. It certainly works in the Dutch model in that much of the housing is very similar. There are many terraced buildings and houses that are exact replicas. We can do a design, prefabricate off site and do a row of terraced buildings relatively easily. It is more expensive, in principle, in some cases. The application of the model in Ireland is not as easy as it might seem initially because we have a significant number of detached and semi-detached buildings. Therefore, we do not have the scale. Notwithstanding that, the principle of the Energiesprong model is one we will certainly see growing in the market. It will be driven not just by the materials that can be developed but also by the radical development of digitisation tools. We are getting to a point where we can survey our house externally using virtual tools on a mobile phone or drone technology. The data end up in an engineer's office. He or she does the analysis and the resulting data are used to prefabricate all the materials to go into the house. In parts of Ireland, we will see the application of that type of methodology, whether it is Energiesprong or something similar, but unfortunately it is not a silver bullet.