Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In my initial reply, I did not deal with the issue of childcare. As the Deputy knows, we are making very substantial funding available in the budget, and we will do so next year, to ensure the existence of proper income supports for workers in the childcare sector and to create a career pathway. Employers and unions can work in the knowledge that there is a financial envelope to deal with the deliberations of a JLC in respect of childcare.

On retrofitting and the grant, as referred to by the Deputy, we have provided additional funding for retrofitting across the board through the budget and the recovery and resilience plan that we submitted to Europe, and more generally through the national development plan and economic recovery plan. Within that financial envelope, we will do what we have to do to make sure we can incentivise more people to engage in retrofitting.

I do accept there is a gap to be bridged between affordability and what people can spend. We do not want people getting into excessive debt at high rates, so there may be opportunities for low-interest loans as well as additional grants for people. That is being worked on.

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