Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their questions.

Deputy Paul Murphy raised the issue of the pollution of the River Poddle. I do not know the facts or the details but I will make sure that my office makes further inquiries about it.

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of the retrofitting of homes. I am told by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, that the programme is going well and that we will meet or exceed our target to retrofit 30,000 homes this year. We have made some changes to the SEAI grant. One can now pay the difference rather than having to pay the total amount upfront. There are plans for low-cost loans. I will certainly get an update for the Deputy on the programme and how it is going. Obviously, we are retrofitting housing that belongs to the Government, the social housing stock, too.

Deputy Barry raised the issue of the poor condition of Lough Neagh and the environmental damage to it. I understand there are many different causes. Abstraction is one of those, but perhaps not the only one. Any decision, I believe, on the next steps would have to be one taken by the Northern Ireland authorities.

Finally, on district heating, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, has been appointed as the regulator for district heating and will be responsible for the development of appropriate regulation for the sector going forward. Primary legislation will be required to ensure developers of district heating projects have the necessary legal powers to operate in the sector and ensure consumer protections, as well as put in place licensing and consenting provisions for district heating operations, including those heated by geothermal. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is currently developing the heads of a proposed heat Bill, which the Department intends to bring to Government next year.

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