Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his staff for their engagement over recent months. The scheme is falling short. I cannot begin to describe the mental and physical stress that families are under. Deputy Conway-Walsh and I are working together closely on the scheme. The requirement of a 10% contribution will prevent people from accessing it because they do not have that money. Regarding the requirement to replace like for like in terms of energy issues, we are setting up a meeting with the SEAI. I have met the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, about trying to get banks to engage with the scheme. We are engaging with the federation. We have also been considering the need for capacity in local authorities to deal with the volume of potential applications. I am not one for drama, but I estimate that multiple hundreds of applications are coming. We need more support to be able to provide information on the scheme and to manage the applications.

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