Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

Yesterday I spoke about people installing geothermal or solar panels on their houses. Instead of needing to apply for a grant they should be able to get tax relief. When they apply for grant they need to submit the C2 number of the installing contractor. It would be less bureaucratic than giving a grant to people who want to make changes to their lifestyles and improve the environment. It would also be more tax efficient and economic to give the equivalent of the grant as a tax relief and should be considered. I understand the Government uses it to some degree to control the amount of money it will spend on these grants. However, it would work out being considerably more efficient in the long term if we set it up this way rather than the existing cumbersome grant applications process.