Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when the updated National Energy Efficiency Action Plan will be published; the specific role that the Action Plan will have in relation to the targets required of Ireland under the EU 2020 emissions reduction plan; his plans to include the forthcoming pay as you save retrofit scheme under the scope of the plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4602/13]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when money outlined in the budget for the retrofitting of houses will become available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4683/13]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to roll out a large scale national pay-as-you-save retrofit programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4600/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 22 and 37 together.

I intend to publish the national energy efficiency action plan in the next four weeks. This second action plan reaffirms Ireland’s commitment to a 20% energy savings target in 2020 in pursuit of our EU obligations. This is equivalent to 31,925 GWh or a reduction in annual CO2 emissions of 7.7 Mt. The actions outlined in the plan are projected to realise 34,060 GWh of energy savings in 2020, which is equivalent to a 21.1% saving on the baseline period and an overachievement of 1.1%.

Energy efficiency is internationally recognised as one of the most cost-effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This was confirmed in the National Economic and Social Council secretariat interim report, Towards a New National Climate Policy, which identified energy efficiency as a key route to carbon efficiency and a spur to economic growth. Energy efficiency thus forms an integral element of the national climate change adaptation framework published in December 2012 and specifically the transition to a competitive low carbon economy which is being led by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. The soon to be published heads of a climate Bill will direct the preparation of a national low carbon roadmap and sectoral roadmaps, as well as climate adaptation planning.

The forthcoming national energy efficiency action plan will contain 97 actions, each of which will play a part in securing a more sustainable energy future for Ireland. Of the 97 actions, the following five will play an integral role in the delivery of the national target. We will introduce a series of obligations on public sector bodies to address consumption, procurement and reporting of energy use. We will institute a national energy performance contracting process to deliver innovative models of retrofitting and financing of energy efficiency measures in the commercial and public sectors. This will be underpinned by an energy efficiency fund to which the Government has already committed €35 million in the 2013 budget as seed capital. We will introduce an appropriate pay-as-you-save model for Ireland to replace existing Exchequer supports for domestic and non-domestic energy efficiency upgrade measures. The better energy programme will deliver energy efficiency improvements across a number of sectors including energy saving targets for energy suppliers. A cross-departmental implementation group will soon be established to ensure that all the actions contained in this plan are delivered. Should all the measures set out in the plan reach their full potential by 2020, it is estimated that a potential reduction in energy spend across all sectors of approximately €2.36 billion, at 2011 prices, will be realised. A significant element of this will be Exchequer savings in the public sector.

The new energy efficiency directive sets out the policy roadmap for the period to 2020. We face significant challenges in meeting our efficiency targets, not least of which is the finance necessary to underwrite the scale of retrofit required in our building stock.

My Department is prioritising work on the transposition of the new obligations in our national law so we can all reap the benefits of sustainable employment, growth and future investment.

The action plan and the programme for Government include a commitment to roll out a pay-as-you-save, PAYS, energy retrofit scheme for domestic buildings after 2013. The PAYS scheme proposes that the current suite of Exchequer funded grants for energy efficiency measures, excluding the low-income housing retrofit programme, will be replaced by a comprehensive national energy efficiency scheme open to households and commercial operators. This scheme will allow consumers to secure up-front financing for energy efficiency upgrades, the repayment of which will be funded from savings on their energy bill generated from the retrofit.

I am pleased to report that my Department, with the assistance of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, has put a project team in place, staffed with a wide range of industry experts, to deliver a project design to Government in 2013 which will include technical, legislative and financial aspects of the design of a PAYS model in the Irish context. The project team will be engaging widely with stakeholders as part of this development work, after which I will bring forward proposals to Government later this year.

In the interim, the Government has committed in excess of €50 million in capital funding for the Better Energy programme in 2013, which will principally involve expenditure across the better energy homes, better energy warmer homes and better energy communities schemes. These schemes are administered by the SEAI and further details are available on its website. It is also my intention to establish urgently the energy efficiency fund, based on the €35 million seed capital to which I referred earlier. This funding, to be augmented by significant private sector financing, has the potential to finance significant additional retrofit works in both the public and the private sectors. Urgent work is being progressed in consultation with other Departments and NewERA to progress this initiative.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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I presume somebody will be nominated to take responsibility for each of the 97 actions because, without that level of responsibility, the actions may well not be delivered. Obviously, the plan must be very practical if it is going to deliver the savings. The Minister is correct that a huge amount of money could be saved in terms of energy efficiency, including in the public service.

Is the public sector energy efficiency working group meeting regularly and has it been delivering on the previous action plan? I know there are some very good examples of best practice in place as a prototype in several different sections of the public service. It is important there is more than a silo-based approach and that there is a cross-sectoral approach within the public service.

The Minister said the retrofitting of buildings is limited by the amount of money that will underpin it. While I accept this, is there any prospect of leveraging funds beyond national funds for such a scheme? We have not only an obligation to meet targets at EU level because, if we do not achieve those targets, we will probably have a big demand on the Exchequer by virtue of the fact we will have to buy carbon credits. With an eye to 2050, we need to be looking way beyond 2020 if we are going to meet the targets.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I can entirely agree with Deputy Murphy about the necessity for cross-departmental supervision of implementation of the plan's 97 actions, and that is being provided for. In fairness, the SEAI has essentially had that function and has been carrying it out very effectively. The unit in my Department, to which I referred, has for some months been involved in intensive preparations in regard to transitioning from a grants-based scheme to this pay-as-you-save model.

It is remarkable that the applications have fallen off, as I told the House on Question Time recently. I presume it is a function of the recession to some extent as, even if people are getting a grant, they still have to put their hand in their pocket and put up some money. Perhaps it is also that the people who are convinced of the energy efficiency measure have gone ahead and done the work. While I cannot recall off the top of my head, I understand close to 100,000 homes have been upgraded, but getting the message through to the next sliver of the population is more difficult.

Certainly, there is a necessity to be more energy efficient, to get down our imports and to improve the quality of our housing stock, as well as public buildings, and there is a lot of work in that. Moreover, it is not just a question of the imperative of the energy efficiency argument but the job creation that is associated with it.

The Deputy asked whether we can raise money outside the State. The idea behind the €35 million which I secured in the last budget is that we will be able to get matching funding domestically from the private sector, bringing the fund to in excess of €70 million. We are in discussions with Europe, and the Commission and the Commissioner are interested in this issue. A big limb of energy policy is energy efficiency, and the Commission is, of course, interested in looking at this across other member states, not just Ireland. Therefore, the question Deputy Murphy raises is very much a current one in the sense that if we can get over domestic difficulties in respect of the GGB-GGD argument, which limits our spend because of the constraints and straitjacket we are now operating in, then it should be possible to leverage money in Europe, whether from the European Investment Bank or otherwise.

Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister referred to public private partnerships and said he is working hard to sort this out. He did not give any indication as to timescale. Is he referring to the €35 million plus €35 million and could he explain the timescale? Has the Department or the SEAI quantified the overall level of work that is needed to maximise efficiency in both domestic and commercial buildings in this country?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Theoretically, I am told, there are 1 million homes that would benefit from retrofit, in that the quality of the housing stock in this county is so poor that there are some 1 million homes that could be productively retrofitted.

The objective here is that we are committed to making the transition from the grants-based scheme to a pay-as-you-save model by 1 January. Therefore, the scheme will have to be promulgated long in advance of that. The significance of the figures of €35 million and €70 million the Deputy mentions is that we need to construct the funds so that more than 50% is from the private sector. If we can, we have to contrive to keep the fund off the State's books because there are constraints on us in terms of the spending ceilings. I understand the indications from the private sector are that there is a lot of work and many contracts in this and, therefore, it would be a productive investment by that sector.

Deputy Catherine Murphy's question goes further and concerns whether we can go outside the State to augment that fund, and I believe there are definite possibilities in that regard.

The SEAI attic insulation grant has been very successful for senior citizens but it is flawed in that private home owners can get it but not council tenants. Fuel poverty is a major concern for everybody here and pay-as-you-save is an excellent scheme but the local authority tenant should be able to access that scheme. Has the Minister considered a way to allow these tenants access it? Is there a target date for the implementation of pay-as-you-save?

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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The last time I asked a question the Minister gave me a table of figures for the fall-off in take-up of the insulation scheme which is quite dramatic. Is there a problem in the way the scheme is designed? Is it all or nothing? Does this put off people who might be able to do it on an incremental basis?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Money is still spent on the warmer homes side of the scheme from which local authority tenants would benefit. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government does not work as well in this regard. Deputy Humphreys is right, however, that the pay-as-you-save model will be aimed at home owners by definition because they are the ones who must go for the product in the belief that over a set period they will be able to pay for the works done from the savings in the bill. It is a good concept.

I do not think Deputy Murphy is right. The existing scheme is broken down into different elements, one gets so much to do the attic or inject the walls. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle is an expert on this. He consults me frequently and there is not a home in east Galway that is not like a veritable nest, they are so warm.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Warm people.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Indeed.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I will consult with the Leas Ceann Comhairle later on.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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If one gets €4,000 in the grant the odds are approximately 2:1 that one is expected to put up €8,000. Perhaps that is prohibitive. Perhaps householders who are not purchasing elsewhere in the consumer economy are not doing this work. That may be the bigger part of the explanation. There is also a danger that those who are minded to take the energy efficiency argument on board and acknowledge that it makes their homes healthier, safer and warmer went and did it in the first flush of a few years and it is more difficult to get the message through to the remainder of the population. Either way we are going to test the market. That is why a great deal of effort is going into designing a product that will be attractive to the householder.

The Deputy will have seen the announcement across the water last week about the green deal. If the product is not attractive to the average householder there is no point boasting about its merits when the householder does not take it up. I would also expect that the contractors who work in this area would be part of the sales process, that they would explain to people the merit of this, the significant savings in their energy bills at a time when energy bills are high because we are a net price taker. We import the energy. There is a great deal of work going into designing the product; however, you can take a horse to water but you cannot make him drink.