Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the call for a debate on retrofitting and I welcome the funding. It is wonderful to think that we will spend so much money and that people will be able to have warmer homes. However, some people may not be in a position to pay for it all in one go. There is talk of low-interest loans but I believe they will not be in place until some time around the summer. We need a debate in the House in order that we can put forward proposals that could be looked at.

I welcome the commitment by the Minister for Justice to provide more than 400 refuge beds.We all saw the "RTÉ Investigates" programme the other evening and what it highlighted about domestic violence. It is most welcome that some of these beds will be in the nine counties that currently have no services. We have a number of beds in Limerick that service the mid-west, because not every county in the region has a refuge service. This is something that is to be welcomed because the breaches of court rulings and the number of people that have come back and harmed women are frightening. They are two things that I would welcome.