John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It has probably been mentioned but the one-stop shop element of the announced retrofit programme is even better than I expected. The concept of a one-stop shop in this respect is absolutely incredible, as it will organise and project manage the work. It will carry out an assessment of the home and tell people exactly what is the best type of stuff to go into that home. These people will come back out after the work is completed to ensure the work is up to a very good standard. We are achieving two goals with this retrofit scheme. We are making the process financially attractive and viable for people, which is very important. We are also facilitating ease of access, making it so simple for people to retrofit their home, whether it is a deep retrofit or smaller work. These two characteristics are what make it such a good and attractive scheme.

I have a query on one aspect that I would like to raise with the Minister. It is very important because this is a radical scheme that has been introduced. It will be similar to what happened in the 1960s, when over the space of 15 or 20 years everyone switched from open fires to central heating. This will be a radical programme and it deserves a very detailed debate in the Seanad at some stage. I would like to see that.

On the street where I live in Dundalk, many of the houses are protected structures. They may be 100 years old and we are not talking about ancient buildings. We need a dedicated policy between the appropriate Department and the Heritage Council to deal with how somebody in a protected structure would be able to retrofit a home. It is a section of society that could be forgotten about in a general retrofit scheme. If a person lives in a protected structure, retrofitting can nevertheless happen and it is possible to make that home warmer, but it must be done in a managed way. The sooner we get that guidance published on how to make this happen, the better.