112. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment his plans to reform the home energy grants. [73000/25]

Sentiment score: 0.21

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I think we all agree reducing energy consumption at home is a critically important part of reducing our overall carbon output as a nation and of course reducing the costs for households of their energy use. Many households find the grants to be quite rigid and it is a case of perfection being the enemy of the good. For example, if a household wants to upgrade their windows and doors they have to undertake a full energy upgrade under the one-stop shop system. That can be very inaccessible for many households due to the cost involved, so I ask these grants be reformed in such a way they become more accessible and user friendly. I welcome the measures announced in the simplified process, a reduce loan cost and so on. They are all very important but especially with windows and doors, which are critical parts of reducing energy consumption in a household, the grants need to be looked at so there is not a requirement for a full-blown energy upgrade to avail of them.

Sentiment score: 0.52

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister of State for his response. As I said earlier, the importance of reducing energy consumption for domestic households is critical, for carbon achievements and to reduce costs for households and our dependence on international energy importation. That is also an important part. Therefore, I welcome the reforms the Minister of State announced that are in the pipeline for these home energy grants. They need to be less rigid and become more accessible and the requirement for full-blown upgrades needs to be changed. It is critical that any improvement to home energy efficiency should be welcomed. We should not be putting unnecessary requirements, conditions and criteria in place, which can prevent people from accessing these grants. I welcome that and I urge the Minister of State to redouble his efforts to bring about these reforms as soon as possible so the grants are accessible to households and so we subsidise and welcome any improvement to the energy efficiency of homes.

Sentiment score: 0.45