Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to focus on one contributory factor for COPD which is poor housing. Research commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and produced by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has shown that retrofitting of homes of those with COPD or asthma reduces their use of GP, emergency department and hospital services. This is a win for our climate and for our health services. Yet if someone in receipt of the fuel allowance applies for the home energy retrofit grant under the warmer homes scheme today, they will not see the benefits of that until the winter of 2026 to 2027, two winters away.

What is even more concerning is that those living in some of our coldest homes, those built of stone, are completely excluded from the scheme and receive no support whatsoever. This is just not good enough and needs to be urgently reviewed.

See this speech in context