Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The position is that the SEAI is still doing research to establish why there are fewer applications. It is undoubtedly the case from previous studies that if the winter is very bad, the spike in applications is evident for anyone to see. Therefore, the mild winter is plausible as a part explanation but it is not the full explanation. It would appear that people are reluctant to put their hand in their pockets to match the grant aid. The grant aid on offer is based on the presumption that people will come up with their own investment in insulation and retrofitting.

On whether it is the intention to continue the scheme, the programme for Government commits to making the transition from a grants-based system to a pay-as-you-save model, a financial model that envisages repayment over a number of years. It could be three or four years but it has not been fixed yet. The payment will be made essentially from the savings that will accrue. The intention is to continue the scheme for 2013, which is what interests Deputy Collins.

My initial view was that minor adjustment to the grant levels for some functions might explain why there were fewer applications, but that does not explain it because where the grant did not change at all, the number of applications have declined by exactly the same amount. The matter still bears some research.

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