Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the update. This is one of those areas in which all of us can see opportunity. We are all frustrated with the rate of progress in this area. My party colleague, Deputy Stanley, published legislation four years ago which would have introduced a scheme, had it been adopted. There are great opportunities in this area. Any of us who have seen similar schemes in operation elsewhere know the potential of it. My colleague, Senator Boylan, and I made a submission to the public consultation and highlighted numerous areas of concern and a number of opportunities and barriers that could be addressed. There was a concern about the scheme with regard to the building energy rating, BER, that applicants would have to meet. Is that going to be part of the new scheme? That would exclude a lot of schools, community groups, farm buildings and that sort of thing. Will they be included?

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