Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Senator rightly identifies that electricity has a key role to play in decarbonisation. He is right to ask about the refit tariff. This is the money that is paid to people for selling their electricity back to the grid. That process is in train as fast as it can be done. It will be ready within a small number of months.

Regarding the deep retrofits, our analysis says that approximately 50% of homes need their attic insulation redone and that they would get a great return on investment by doing that. Attic and cavity wall insulation are the two most cost-effective measures. For somebody who spends €500 on getting their cavity walls and their attic insulated, the Government will pay €2,500 on top of that €500. That means that they will make back about €300 a year. It means that their return on investment of €500 down will be made within less than two years. It is a very good way to save money on electricity bills. It is worth more per year than the €200 that we are putting in people's accounts on one-off basis. They will get €300 every year thereafter. We are very keen that as many people as possible take that up.It is a very affordable scheme for people who are not on welfare but are on low pay.