Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

These are all reasonable points. The general problem is that Deputy O’Rourke is talking about unease and suspicion from experience he has had anecdotally from people coming to him. Of course, we all make our decisions based on constituents coming to us with issues, but we need more than that to be sure there is a widespread problem or to be sure of what kind of approach we need to mitigate it. As I have said, the SEAI does random inspections. They are risk-based and it tries to cover all the contractors. It makes sure its contractors are properly qualified and certified and that houses have the proper insulation or are suitable for having a heat pump installed. I do not doubt there are people who have had bad experiences and large bills.

The Deputy made the point that there needs to be good education on how to use them and that, in some cases, people have reported that, when they figured out how to use them correctly, they were then able to bring down their bills. I will speak to the SEAI about that. In any particular instance in which someone has a very high bill which does not seem right, I will go to the SEAI and explore it on his or her behalf or the Deputy can go to it directly. If he does not get satisfaction in that regard, he can come back to me so that we can find out why a system that is meant to bring down costs has not operated in that way. It is sometimes a shock for people. They are likely to get a larger electricity bill than before they had a heat pump because they should not be paying a gas, oil or solid fuel bill. That is likely to happen and there is a bit of getting used to the idea that you are now dependent on electricity in a way that you were not.

The SEAI has random inspections and therefore there is an element of audit in this regard. It has a lot of information on its website about how to use a heat pump correctly. I will ask the SEAI about the process for handovers, that is, when a contractor completes, particularly in the context of new builds because the vast majority of people who have heat pumps are new-build customers. It is important they learn how to use them correctly.

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