Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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367. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress that has been made on the completion of a fuel poverty strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18962/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Affordable Energy Strategy was developed by the Inter-Departmental/Agency Group on Affordable Energy (IDGAE) and published in November 2011 as part of the Department’s commitment in the Programme for Government to help mitigate energy poverty. The Strategy is key to protecting the most vulnerable in our society who may be at risk of energy poverty and provides a framework for building upon the many measures already in place.

There are forty-eight actions identified in the strategy that are being implemented over the lifetime of the report (3 years), including five priority measures: a commitment to review the National Fuel Scheme in the context of examining the feasibility of aligning income supports with the energy efficiency and income of the home, the phased introduction of minimal thermal efficiency standards for rental accommodation, ensuring greater access to energy efficiency measures, the introduction of an area based approach and reforming the eligibility criteria for energy efficiency schemes.