Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 350: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when the energy poverty strategy will be published. [33987/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Energy Affordability is a cross-cutting policy issue and tackling the root causes requires action on a number of fronts across Government and across Agencies. Energy poverty is caused by interaction between energy prices, thermal inefficiency of the home and income. Action to mitigate energy poverty has focused on providing assistance through the schemes operated by the Departments of Social Protection, Environment, Community and Local Government, and the Sustainable Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

The Inter-Departmental/Agency Group on Affordable Energy, which is chaired by my Department and which represents all key Departments, Agencies and energy suppliers as well as the Energy Regulator and NGOs, finalised its own deliberations on the Affordable Energy Strategy over the summer months.

I have recently completed a further round of discussions with the Ministers for Social Protection and Environment, Community and Local Government, and it is my intention, with the approval of the Government to publish the Affordable Energy Strategy within the next few weeks.

The Affordable Energy Strategy will be the framework for building upon the many measures already in place to protect households at risk from the effects of energy poverty, which include the thermal efficiency-based measures delivered through the Better Energy: Warmer Homes programme. Providing significant energy efficiency improvements to homes in, or at risk of, energy poverty, results in benefits to recipients in terms of energy affordability, tangible health improvements and overall well being.