Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The first step was the launch of the scheme the week before last. I think it caught the public imagination. We know from our own constituencies and from elsewhere that the public is interested this for a variety of reasons. It wants to play its part in helping to tackle climate change. It wants better, healthier and warmer homes. It has also seen the shocking scale of fuel bills, with the high prices of gas and oil. This is the mechanism.

Deputy O’Rourke asked earlier how we will meet our climate targets. Bill Gates famously said that most people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in a decade. I think that will be the case in this area. We have set an ambitious target of 500,000 homes. I am confident that we will meet it . I am confident that we will get the workers to be able to do the work. We have committed €8 billion in funding. That is why I said to Deputy O'Rourke that we have the funding. Some €5 billion of that €8 billion is from the carbon tax. That will give industry the certainty. It will give the householder the support to make it happen. The key elements are in place. The SEAI got an additional 50 workers last year. It will get another 50 more this year. It is orchestrating it. That again gives me confidence that we will be able to do it. We have been 22 years at it. One could say we have been slow to warm up, but we are about to hit our stride.

More than anything else, the reason I am confident is because of the Irish householder and the average Irish home. People are now thinking that they have been putting this off. They were thinking "maybe, maybe not". Now, with 50% grants, they are saying, "maybe yes". That first initiative is the most important prerequisite. It is in people’s heads across the country at the moment. We will engage in a communication strategy to help them to go to the SEAI so that they can find out what the best solutions are for their homes. I think it will happen.

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