Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 444: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for delays in processing applications for the warmer homes scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10739/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Better Energy: Warmer Homes delivers a range of energy efficiency measures to households that are vulnerable to energy poverty. The scheme is managed on behalf of my Department by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and delivered through a range of Community Based Organisations (CBOs), augmented by a panel of private contractors in order to ensure national coverage.

The SEAI are in the process of contract renewal with the network of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) with a view to concluding negotiations at the earliest possible opportunity. In addition, an Invitation to Tender was recently published by the SEAI to establish a new panel of private contractors to augment this network. The public procurement process through the Official Journal of the European Union will take a number of weeks to conclude and a panel should be in place by early in Quarter Two.

The SEAI advises that there are a total of 10,382 homes on the national waiting list as of 13 February 2012. Service delivery plans, within the available 2012 budget, are currently being finalised. Households on the waiting list on 31 December 2011 will be retrofitted according to their position on the waiting list.

2012 will mark a shift in emphasis on the Better Energy: Warmer Homes scheme to take account of the Government's Affordable Energy Strategy, which I launched last November. Heretofore, applicants were considered eligible for retrofit measures if they met defined criteria, such as eligibility for the National Fuel Scheme. All successful applicants were placed on a waiting list and addressed in rotation. The focus in 2012 will shift to addressing those households identified as being in extreme energy poverty as a priority; such households typically spend over 20% of their disposable income on energy services. This will ensure that those most in need receive the benefit of energy efficiency measures first.