Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government’s track record on retrofitting has left Irish homes behind when it comes to energy efficiency. Its plan repackages commitments made years ago and little progress has been made in the meantime. Retrofitting 500,000 homes by 2030 was committed to by the previous Government in 2019. Three years on, we are still looking at the same press releases with the same numbers.

The scheme falls well short of what is required. Sinn Féin has been raising the cost-of-living crisis for months, and the Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to admit, in the past couple of weeks, that there is an issue. Then the Government announced a scheme whereby one needs to have to up to €25,000 lying around or take on more debt. On the one hand, the Government is saying it understands people are struggling to make ends meet and heat their homes, but on the other it is asking people to fork out thousands. These people cannot afford to heat their homes or retrofit. Therefore, the scheme is going to leave people behind.

The Government is increasing the carbon tax on 1 May. This will force more people into fuel poverty. People do not have the money to heat their homes. The Minister thinks they have the money to afford a retrofit or take on extra debt. None of this is making any sense in the real world.

The plan is silent on renters. Some renters live in cold, poorly insulated homes and are paying huge bills. There are landlords who will not invest in retrofitting, leaving renters paying huge bills. Yet again, we are leaving renters behind.

Linking the scheme to the ability to pay is simply not fair. As my colleague, Deputy O’Rourke, said last week, this could end up being regressive. I hope this is not the case but the Deputy may be right.

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