Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I can confirm to the House that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has written to the energy suppliers and is preparing to meet them over the coming weeks in regard to the challenges around costs. This Government is very much focused on responding through the warmer homes scheme. This year, we have increased the level of funding to €280 million to fully fund upgrades for those who are most at risk and we are also looking at deep retrofits for transforming homes, reducing bills and improving health outcomes. This is on top of the measures to address the immediate affordability challenges, whereby we have extended the 9% VAT rate on energy. We have established the national energy affordability task force, which will bring forward measures before the budget. We are very much cognisant of the need to ensure we have a balanced approach to protecting households but also future-proofing them.

See this speech in context