Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I only saw them briefly yesterday but across each of the sectors in which the SEAI is working, we are seeing an incredible increase in demand for improvements to buildings, the introduction of solar energy and across every category. There has been an incredible level of growth, of up to 250%, in a whole variety of different cases. The absolute priority is to make sure that we deliver for those households most at risk. The warmer homes scheme, which represents a large percentage of our budget, targets those on the lowest incomes. The reality of what is happening is that we are ahead of our targets. Last year we were on target but in the first quarter of this year, there has been dramatic growth with no indication that is going to be reversed. If anything, with the provision of the additional apprenticeships, the significant job creation in this area and the scaling up of our capability, we are going to take off from here. There has been very significant growth compared with last year, which is very welcome.

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