Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)

I want to raise the issue of a pilot project run in Cavan-Monaghan and Sligo-Leitrim that recently came to an end, called Retrofit Ready. It was a programme under the Department of the environment's Climate Action Fund. Cavan County Local Development and Monaghan Integrated Development and the equivalent development groups in Sligo- Leitrim, employed a person in Cavan-Monaghan and a person in Sligo-Leitrim to talk to individuals and groups about trying to retrofit their homes. They advised them about the warmer homes scheme and the different SEAI grants available on the ground. In particular, they were able to talk to people about whether they were entitled to the fuel allowance. If people are, they can apply to the warmer homes scheme.

Many people were not aware they were entitled to the fuel allowance and had not been claiming it. There was a huge uptake of the programme and a lot of people have got works done to their house or are in the process of getting works done. Some of these are very old houses that need a lot of work under the warmer homes scheme or the SEAI grants. Unfortunately, the pilot programme came to an end a few weeks ago. Could it be rolled out on a nationwide basis? It was really worthwhile for not just those four counties, but throughout the State. The Minister might comment on that.