John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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396. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will report on the success or otherwise of the warmth and well-being pilot programme that commenced in 2016 and piloted in parts of Dublin 8, 10, 12, 22 and 24; his plans to extend the pilot scheme in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9196/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Warmth and Wellbeing scheme is a pilot initiative being delivered under the Government’s Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty and the Healthy Ireland Framework. The objective of the pilot is to validate, in an Irish context, the international evidence that suggests making homes warmer and more energy efficient can have a positive effect on the health and well-being of people in energy poverty who are also living with a chronic respiratory condition. As it is a pilot scheme, eligibility is necessarily limited. In 2016 the operational area for the scheme was selected as Community Health Area (CHO) 7, following consultation with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE). This CHO encompasses Kildare/West Wicklow, Dublin West, Dublin South City and Dublin South West. Within CHO 7 the need to build capacity in the local public health and SEAI teams, and establish communications with the local community, meant that a further localisation was necessary and Dublin 12 and 24 were selected as the initial operational areas.

With the increase in capital for the pilot to €8m for 2017, the steering committee for the scheme, made up of representatives from my Department, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the Department of Health and the HSE, determined that the area covered by the scheme could be expanded to cover Dublin 8, 10 and 22 and that eligibility could be expanded to cover families with young children. By including families with young children it is hoped that the scheme can also show a positive impact on school attendance and social inclusion.

To date, 352 successful applications have been processed by the HSE team and referred to SEAI for surveying and works. Of these, the number from each area is listed below:

The lower numbers in Dublin 8, 10 and 22 are due to the fact that the pilot has only recently been extended to these areas. I would be very keen that public representatives continue to help to raise awareness of the pilot in their communities. Nevertheless, this represents a strong pipeline of works and I am confident that the scheme will achieve its objectives for 2017.

The scheme is intended to run for at least a further two full years (2017-2018). In parallel with the scheme’s delivery, an independent research project is in the process of being commissioned by my Department, which will assess the impact of the scheme. At the conclusion of the scheme, and with independent evidence on its effectiveness, the potential for a wider roll-out will be considered.

In addition to the Warmth and Wellbeing pilot, the Better Energy Warmer Homes scheme is available on a nationwide basis to low income households who are at risk of energy poverty. More information on this scheme is available on SEAI’s website at: