Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I emphasise it is important that there would be a budget to create awareness of the scheme and the various differences between the strands of the scheme. That is something that local authorities should be able to tap into to put the scheme out there. That will help take-up.

On a related vein, and something I previously raised on a number of occasions, I ask the Minister and the Ministers of State to again engage with the utility companies, for example, ESB Networks, in relation to reconnection fees. These fees are quite punitive. It is yet another barrier. These will be future customers for these companies anyway and there surely should be a better way for people to reconnect old properties to the grid without being charged so much upfront. Can the Department examine that as one less expense people will have, as well as the fees regarding water connections or reconnections, which are another expense? I could say a great deal about the taxation code, about VAT and about different costs in relation to insulation and other costs as well, but those are ones that could be quick wins.

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