Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I can entirely agree with Deputy Murphy about the necessity for cross-departmental supervision of implementation of the plan's 97 actions, and that is being provided for. In fairness, the SEAI has essentially had that function and has been carrying it out very effectively. The unit in my Department, to which I referred, has for some months been involved in intensive preparations in regard to transitioning from a grants-based scheme to this pay-as-you-save model.

It is remarkable that the applications have fallen off, as I told the House on Question Time recently. I presume it is a function of the recession to some extent as, even if people are getting a grant, they still have to put their hand in their pocket and put up some money. Perhaps it is also that the people who are convinced of the energy efficiency measure have gone ahead and done the work. While I cannot recall off the top of my head, I understand close to 100,000 homes have been upgraded, but getting the message through to the next sliver of the population is more difficult.

Certainly, there is a necessity to be more energy efficient, to get down our imports and to improve the quality of our housing stock, as well as public buildings, and there is a lot of work in that. Moreover, it is not just a question of the imperative of the energy efficiency argument but the job creation that is associated with it.

The Deputy asked whether we can raise money outside the State. The idea behind the €35 million which I secured in the last budget is that we will be able to get matching funding domestically from the private sector, bringing the fund to in excess of €70 million. We are in discussions with Europe, and the Commission and the Commissioner are interested in this issue. A big limb of energy policy is energy efficiency, and the Commission is, of course, interested in looking at this across other member states, not just Ireland. Therefore, the question Deputy Murphy raises is very much a current one in the sense that if we can get over domestic difficulties in respect of the GGB-GGD argument, which limits our spend because of the constraints and straitjacket we are now operating in, then it should be possible to leverage money in Europe, whether from the European Investment Bank or otherwise.

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