John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State and welcome the progress made. I agree with him on the sentiments around interest rates and the take-up. The demand for retrofitting is definitely rising but we need to monitor the correlation of draw-downs versus retrofit. There is a body of work to be done here where there is essentially cash investment in retrofitting. It is welcome but I am not so sure the broader consumer understands the need to invest. We have many debates in this House about the need for energy credits and so on but we would be better served if we invested in this area for the longer term. The only way to bring down energy bills is by investing in renewables and that is the way forward.

In my own county there are situations where central heating by peat fuel is up to 40% compared to a national average of 4%. Whether it is turf fuel or oil boilers the gap between those and heat pumps is significant and there is a body of work to be done to bridge that gap.

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