Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Go raibh maith agat for raising this matter. I thank the Deputy for the work he is doing on the Oireachtas committee and as our party spokesperson in the area of climate action. He triggered a number of thoughts on my part in relation to this. The overriding priority has to be that the perfect is not the enemy of the good when it comes to homeowners being supported. The Government and I consider the current system to be too rigid in certain areas. There are many people who want to do more in relation to making their homes warmer, cheaper to heat and more environmentally friendly. However, there can be logistical and practical considerations, including the age of the housing stock and the age and well-being of homeowners. We need to take that on board. I will ensure that this matter is discussed and considered by the Government. I welcome the work of the Oireachtas committee as to how we can be more flexible and innovative in how we use what is a significant level of public investment in trying to put in place grant schemes and incentives to help people make the transition. There might be a little too much ideology or perfection as opposed to pragmatism in relation to some of these schemes. That is my starting point.

I welcome the fact the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, our colleague the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, yesterday launched his Department's sectoral capital plan under the national development plan. The encouraging news, at a time when COP is ongoing, is that this provides for a total capital funding envelope under the national development plan of €5.64 billion in investment in energy, climate and our circular economy sectors over the next five years, together with planned electricity grid investments that will be leveraged by a separate equity investment of €3.5 billion. That is a significant scale-up in investment in climate, in energy and in our circular economy.

A key priority in the sectoral plan and for the Government will be to make sure that gets channelled into investment in energy efficiency programmes. In fact, the largest single programme in the plan, up to €3.7 billion of the €5.6 billion, will be invested in residential energy efficiency programmes through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. I know, because they write to me, that there can sometimes be a frustration from our constituents and the public about, perhaps, the length of time or the rigidity involved. I want them to know that the largest investment in that Department's capital plan now, over €3.7 billion, is specifically for how we help to upgrade, from an energy efficiency point of view, homes in our country.

Considering that is a fact, it is now time to answer the questions that Deputy Ó Muirí has asked in terms of how we can perhaps be more pragmatic or innovative in relation to that and, indeed, in respect of how we target the homes that are more dispersed. This is a relatively small island with a relatively small population, although there is very fast population growth. We have a very dispersed population, and that poses significant challenges. I will ask both the Minister and the SEAI to consider the proposals, and perhaps the Oireachtas committee could also give further consideration to this.

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