Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for this discussion of what is one of the most positive schemes this Government will do in the coming years. I laud the scheme. There are so many positives in it, despite the negativity that initially greeted the Minister after he spoke. We should be discussing the positives here, which far outweigh the negatives, but it is not surprising to hear that at this stage.

This retrofit scheme will provide multiple benefits. People will have warmer and more comfortable homes that are cheaper to run. It will help alleviate energy poverty in the medium to long term and improve the health and well-being of citizens, particularly elderly people. It will improve the asset values of properties across the country and create economic activity and high-quality jobs. It will give everybody the ability to heat their home using electricity generated through renewable energy projects. There is a lot to be positive about in the scheme and I look forward to seeing it rolled out in the coming years.

The scheme will produce the one-stop-shop model that will provide an end-to-end service for homeowners. This includes surveying the home, designing upgrades, managing the grant process, helping with access to finance, engaging contractors to deliver the work and quality assuring the work at the end. It will also provide grant support under the Better Energy Homes scheme for homeowners who want to take a step-by-step approach to upgrading their home.

The grant for heat pumps, for instance, has increased from €3,500 to €6,500 and the rate for external wall insulation will increase from €6,000 to €8,000. Up to now, many people were excluded from the SEAI’s schemes if they had previously availed of one. That will now also be removed.

The budget that the Minister is providing for this will support an increase in the number of free home upgrades from an average of 177 per month in 2021 to 400 per month this year. As previous speakers have said here, there is concern about lower-income and middle-income families and how they will access the scheme and this is something we need to be conscious of as the scheme is rolled out.

In his closing comments, I ask the Minister to clarify the flexibility and responsiveness of the scheme. I am assuming there will be some kind of review undertaken periodically on aspects of the scheme and the process that perhaps are not working to the optimum and which might be amended over time. Such a review, and the ability of the Minister to review the process as we go would be welcome.

We also need to consider the added implications that growing inflation will pose. Will the terms of the scheme be reviewed as the programme is rolled out to take those factors into consideration? It is well documented that cost of living inflation is causing a significant problem at the moment. If many of the jobs that are to be costed in the coming years are far in excess of that €50,000 limit, I wonder will there be flexibility for the scheme to possibly grow with inflation, if that continues to be a considerable problem.

My main concern is around the apprenticeships and whether we will get the volume of qualified apprentices we need to do these jobs and undertake these schemes. That is where I see there might be a significant pinch. My other concern is on the SEAI’s capacity to deal with what is coming down the tracks in terms of the workload it will have. This undoubtedly will be a very significant undertaking and I hope the authority will be provided with the resources it will require to ensure that this scheme is administered appropriately and is used to the maximum benefit of all of our people.

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