Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I will focus first on lower income households, where the free home energy upgrades, under the warmer homes scheme, would be expected to deliver. This time last year, it was taking eight to ten months to reach stage one, the BER assessment, and 26 months to get the overall works done under the scheme. By the middle of last year, it had slipped to ten to 12 months to get the BER assessment. We would expect that multiple BER assessors contractors would be available around the country to support a slipping target. In my office, I am dealing with people who have been waiting up to 15 months with no contact for a BER assessment. Are the SEAI times correct? Is there something particular in Cork that is causing such delays? Will the SEAI, even if it needs to take on additional contractors, advance that aspect of the grant?

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