Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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Yes. We are in a very different environment now as against last year and this retrofitting scheme really has to succeed. It is important that we ask the Department how it is taking into account the changed environment in relation to inflation in both labour and materials and to get an update on same. It is useful to get this response but we are going to have to keep on top of that because we have legal obligations to meet our targets and if inflation is going to be an impediment, it would be an issue.

I wish to raise another issue. We had a discussion last week with the Department of Finance and I asked a question in relation to the target of 100,000 EVs by 2030. It is a nice round figure and I am always very wary of round figures. Apparently the Department of Transport provided that figure but there does not appear to have been a robust exchange between the Departments of Finance and Transport on the ability to achieve that target but we will end up paying fines if we do not achieve it. That is the point I was making last week, that it will come back on the Department's budget. I suggest that we look at the McKinsey report on the second-hand EV market because the vast majority of people will not be able to buy new EVs at their current prices.