Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State urgently needs to instruct the SEAI to collect data on people who withdraw their applications to the scheme. It needs to find out why people withdraw. A survey by AIB showed that 62% of people who wanted to retrofit and upgrade their houses to become more energy efficient could not afford to do so. The figures are showing that the people who need their homes upgraded and retrofitted, those who need support, cannot get it but the people who have the money and, in many cases, do not need the grants can get them. There is something wrong with the system. We need to know the information as to why people are withdrawing from the scheme and not taking it up. We also need to know why people are not applying.

I do not believe that the increases the Minister of State is talking about keep up to date with the construction inflation of the past three years. People are telling me they cannot afford to upgrade their homes. What are the Minister of State and the Government going to do to support people who need it?

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