Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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We are starting with subhead B4. The Deputy asked about the big increase from €94 million to €355 million. It states in the Deputy's briefing note that the figure of €94.952 million excluded a capital carryover of €57 million during that year, which understates it somewhat. We did have a capital carryover that went into that.

The plan in 2023 is to retrofit 120,000 dwellings to BER B2 or cost optimal standard and to install 45,000 heat pumps. Significant funding during 2023 will come from the increase in the carbon tax, which is ring-fenced partly for retrofit. This will increase the number of homes that can be addressed. That is how the increase in funding comes about in the retrofit programme.

Moving then to the figures for the warmer homes scheme, which I think the Deputy is pointing out are in the Revised Estimates under the key indicators. In 2021, 2,270 homes were upgraded under SEAI energy poverty schemes, and this increased to 4,400 in 2022, which was a 96% increase, partly accounted for by the fact that there was a restriction on building because of the pandemic during 2001. That was a welcome 96% increase. If the Deputy is looking for any data on the detail of the numbers on the warmer homes scheme, I am happy to supply them.

Regarding subhead B11, which is the energy credits, as far as I understand it, the way that is being accounted is that all of the energy credits in 2023 and 2022 were accounted for in 2022. Each energy credit costs approximately €400 million. There are four energy credits. There was one at the start and one at the end of 2022 and there are two in the spring of 2022 so the four energy credits come to €1.6 billion. There is nothing allocated for energy credits in 2023. The Deputy said he expected that there would be energy credits later in the year.