Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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Over two years ago a pilot programme called Retrofit Ready was launched. It covered the counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo and Leitrim. The aim of the initiative was to bridge the knowledge gap among homeowners and communities who want to retrofit their homes. Two community retrofit champions were appointed, namely, Owen McConnon for Cavan and Monaghan and Luke Tarmey for Sligo and Leitrim. They became the faces of the project. They built up trust with communities and individuals to work with them through community events and one-to-one clinics providing information on retrofitting homes. They were seen as honest brokers because they were not selling or endorsing anything; they were just providing a service to make sure that people understood what was available. Older people in particular often were not aware of the programme and did not want to navigate these quite complex projects or applications for different projects and grants.

They organised a number of meet the builder events where they invited local contractors and suppliers to come to a community setting, set up their stalls and engage with the public to advise them about what was available, the costs and timelines and even the tradespeople who could deliver the works.Word of mouth spread, lots of people engaged and it was a successful project. Many people they met there were not aware that if you were in receipt of the fuel allowance, that meant you could apply for the warmer homes scheme. Some people did not even know that they qualified for the fuel allowance in the first place and by qualifying for that, they were able to access the warmer homes scheme but also the SEAI grants and everything that was available. They pointed out that while the warmer homes scheme is great, the waiting list is still quite long at a year and a half. It is something that we should look to invest in because there are a lot of older, colder houses out there and especially with the cost of energy rising on a continual basis, people would be willing to retrofit their homes. However, sometimes they are a bit worried about the process, how to fill out the application forms, who to engage with, etc., and this provided a great service to people there. I am conscious that we face significant penalties from the EU if we do not meet our climate targets in the next few years. If we could invest that money instead in schemes like this to get more people involved in retrofitting their homes, it would benefit us in the long run.

Hugh Wallace, the television personality and architect, attended the concluding conference of this scheme and he endorsed it and felt it was a worthwhile scheme. He had been involved in projects retrofitting of his own house, and he was in houses that are built of stone that we still cannot provide proper insulation for. There are lots of learnings to come from this project. Is there a plan to review this pilot project and roll it out on a permanent basis, not only in the four counties involved but across the nation because it would be worthwhile?

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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With the Acting Chairperson's permission, as there is a vote in the Dáil, I will give the Senator an abbreviated answer. She makes a good point. There is merit in what she is proposing about an extension. She will get a copy of the prepared reply as well.

Since 2019, over €1.5 billion has been provided to homeowners for 228,350 home energy upgrades. As the Senator knows, the retrofit programme is a community-led home retrofit project funded by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on whose behalf I am taking this matter. It has been awarded almost €500,000 since it commenced in October 2022.

Retrofit Ready serves four counties, Monaghan, Sligo, Cavan and Leitrim, and is developing a community retrofit service which is allowing homeowners to navigate access to retrofit grant schemes. The point the Senator made is that there is a waiting time and we must make it easier for homeowners to be able to avail of this grant and the schemes. Many of us are conscious of the piece around retrofit champions, which the Senator referenced in her contribution, and fuel poverty and agreed to have awareness campaigns around that.

I will certainly convey to the Minister and the Department the Senator's concerns about the need to extend the scheme nationwide. Targets have been set at a national level in the climate action plan regarding the installation of heat pumps. Equally, there is a road to travel. We must ensure that, collaboratively and collectively, we make houses warmer, more comfortable and, as the Senator said, less expensive to heat given the rising costs.

I will bring the Senator's points back to the Minister. They are well made and are increasingly relevant today given the need for us as a Government but also as a society to adapt for climate change and to retrofit more houses.