Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. She makes a fair point on the impact of Covid-19 on energy costs. Obviously, if people are spending more time in their homes because of Covid-19, it will have a knock-on effect on energy costs, particularly as we enter the winter months. As I stated, the fuel allowance payments will start to be issued from next week. Over 350,000 households were supported by the fuel allowance this year and we extended the payment this season by four weeks.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, does absolutely fantastic work on improving energy efficiency in homes through schemes such as the warmer homes scheme. It has its biggest ever budget this year, at almost €53 million. We need to build on the great work that was carried out as part of the warmer homes scheme through retrofitting the homes of people at risk of energy poverty. We need to examine this in a whole-of-government context in terms of the work being carried out by my colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Minister responsible for climate action. As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government and the climate action plan set very ambitious targets for retrofitting and making homes more energy efficient.

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