Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 13 together.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, administers the Better Energy programme on behalf of my Department. The SEAI was initially allocated €65 million for the programme in 2011. On taking office and in the context of the jobs initiative, I announced an increase of €30 million in funding for the programme, which brought the final capital allocation for the Better Energy programme in 2011 to €95 million. The provisional outturn for 2011 is approximately €91 million.

Measures being supported under the Better Energy programme are those designed to deliver the greatest energy savings, thus maximising the value achieved from the Exchequer allocation. The additional €30 million provided to the programme for 2011 under the jobs initiative delivered a further €30 million in private sector investment.

As announced in the context of the budget, the Government has again committed significant funding of €76 million to the Better Energy programme for 2012. The programme will continue to underpin economic activity throughout this year, supporting at least 4,500 jobs and realising significant energy savings. The budget allocation for 2012 was agreed in the context of the capital review conducted by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Better Energy programme meets the key criteria governing the Government's investment priorities. These criteria are as follows: consistency with the programme for Government objectives, including returning to sustainable public finances; supporting sustainable employment and employment in the immediate delivery phase; and meeting critical economic and social infrastructure deficits.

The Better Energy programme is directly funded by the Exchequer through my Department's Vote. The Exchequer receives its moneys from a variety of sources, including the carbon tax. Revenue from taxation receipts, including the carbon tax, is a matter for the Minister for Finance.

The 2012 allocation for the energy poverty strand of the Better Energy programme is just over €17 million, which will enable 17,000 low-income homes to be retrofitted this year under the warmer homes scheme. In November, I launched the Government's affordable energy strategy, which sets out the range of tangible time-based measures to tackle energy poverty in a cohesive and cross-governmental way. The strategy identifies a number of priority measures, including a commitment to review the national fuel scheme in terms of examining the feasibility of aligning income supports with the energy efficiency and income of the home. We will also progress the phased introduction of minimal thermal efficiency standards for rental accommodation.

Ensuring greater access to energy efficiency measures for those most in need and reforming the eligibility criteria for energy efficiency schemes will ensure that funding under warmer homes is as targeted as possible during 2012.

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