John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

As the Deputy will know, a significant scheme, namely the home energy upgrade loan scheme, is in place. It was launched last year and is used to provide loans of between €5,000 and €75,000 at levels significantly below prevailing interest rates in order to try to address the scale of the challenge that has been identified in the ESRI report. As stated, four in five rental properties are below a B rating. We are keeping this under review. I do not have a date for the Deputy for this. I stress again that we have to strike a balance between ensuring that we have an adequate supply of rental properties in the market and trying to increase the energy efficiency of those rental properties to ensure that renters have an adequate and warm home to live in.

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