Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government needs to get a grip on the national retrofitting scheme given what the climate committee was told on Tuesday about gaps in the quality of materials, training and skills, and an apparent lack of oversight. The EU Court of Auditors gave Ireland a "must do better" report on our better energy, warmer homes scheme, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform report was not much better. There is no one in charge, and when nobody is in charge, there is nobody responsible and nobody can be held accountable. The potential gaps exposed show that the Government is playing fast and loose with public trust and public money, and neither of those should be squandered. The retrofit scheme must be right to prevent a wealth transfer of public funds. Optics over substance is taking green washing to a whole new level. Will the Minister appoint a type of carbon tsar, based in the Department of the Taoiseach, to take charge of the retrofitting scheme? Judging on past performance as an indicator, at least we will know who to go to and who to bring before the Committee of Public Accounts if the retrofits need another retrofit.

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