Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The banks were very enthusiastic about the scheme because they saw the sense of it.

This scheme is different. It is changing from a long tradition of just throwing a grant at a particular material that one buys. This is going about it in a different way. It is providing a service and providing financial support, not to any one product. In the past the price of such a product rose to the extent of the grant and no one gained. In such cases the householder pays more and the State just transfers money to the company making the product. This scheme is innovative in that the grant is going into the process, both in doing the assessment and also providing a percentage contribution to the work undertaken, and that is absolutely right.

What we have seen in the pilot scheme is that there is keen public demand for it at a time when it is not easy for people to spend or lend money. There is a keen interest in the banks to support it. We can put together a package of measures that has significant effect and that has not been tried anywhere else in terms of the level of sophistication and support provided.

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