Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is an absolute honour to speak with Iar-Uactarám Mary Robinson. She is a woman from the west of Ireland on the world's stage.

Mrs. Robinson has spoken about the 1990s and the winds of change that came to Ireland. She was an inspiration to me and an inspiration to all the young schoolboys and schoolgirls who were here. She knows what it means to be a symbol, which is what she is. Earlier she spoke about the importance of symbolism. She is a symbol to us of how women can drive change and reach their potential at a time even 20 or 30 years ago when that did not seem to be the case.

I represent counties Roscommon and Galway. My comments and questions come from my background in a rural area. The representatives of the Western Development Commission have spoken very clearly about the fact that the housing stock in the west is so much older than the rest of the country. Challenges are faced by people of all ages, and particularly older people, living in old farmhouses and old homes in trying to meet insulation requirements.

One of the things that I am calling for within Government parties concerns SEAI assessors, and this is an issue that I have tried to raise in the form of a Commencement matter. It is still taking 12 months for people to get assessments done on their homes. Those assessments are necessary to retrofit and ensure these homes are insulated so that people can reduce their reliance on solid fuel. I ask about this because I come from a community where I am fighting for a just transition. I want to ensure that we have a just transition but not at the cost of people who are financially dependent on these types of fuels. We need these assessments happen more quickly.

I want to highlight another issue. In the just transition €80 million in Exchequer funding has been allocated and another €80 million has been allocated by the European Union to encourage us and allow us, particularly in the midlands, County Roscommon and in the Ballinasloe municipal district to install EV charging points. Unfortunately, the timelines are tight. I ask Mrs. Robinson for her thoughts on the matter. We were given timelines when the scheme was launched. Within a year the EV charging points were out so community groups did not have enough time to submit applications. We have just transition activation officers in each of our counties but the programme was only put in place by Galway County Council in the past couple of months. There were challenges with recruitment and finding the right people but at a cost to whom? The deadline for an expression of interest in the programme is the end of June. I ask about this matter because the programme will ensure we have more tourism and other employment opportunities for communities that relied on, and experienced change, when it came to Shannonbridge and Lanesborough.

Last, I will mention schools. As my party's spokesperson on education, I met representatives of the INTO today across the road. Solar panels are a wonderful initiative that is being rolled out to schools so that they can reduce their costs and reliance on heating. Energy is a huge cost for our schools, education, and for pupils in national and secondary schools across the country and particularly in the west. I thank Mrs. Robinson for her time.