Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are too many homes in the State paying dearly to heat the sky. It is clear that the Government's retrofitting plan is deeply unfair in its design. It prioritises those with greatest means over those with greatest need. A wealthy household can access €25,000 in publicly funded grants for the deep retrofit while many with far greater need cannot access basic measures such as attic or wall insulation. Places such as north Mayo have some of the highest concentration of energy poverty in the State but north Mayo will not have the largest share of the retrofits. The better energy warmer homes scheme is one of the better designed schemes that targets the most vulnerable but it has been under-resourced. There are 9,000 people on the waiting list and it will take up to 27 months for people to get the very basics of the retrofitting. The prioritisation of wealthier households serves to add to the growing delays of those living in energy poverty. It is important that the Government looks again at the retrofit plan and assesses, measures and evaluates it properly in regard to who is taking up the grants and, moreover, who is not taking up the grants, such as people who desperately need them but cannot afford to access them.

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