Ms Margie McCarthy:

The heat study looked at the community emissions. Waiting a number of years, remaining on gas and then getting to heat pumps and district heating would still allow for a lower level of community emissions by 2050. Technologies evolve on an almost yearly basis. Heat pump technology has improved significantly. As the technologies evolve, it may alter some of the trajectories. At the moment, however, it is certainly pointing to heat pumps and district heating as the most effective way to realise our objectives.