The Government and our Department are fully committed to making homes warmer, reducing energy bills and cutting emissions. We will do this through the retrofitting and heat pump initiatives set out in the climate action plan and delivered via the national retrofit plan, which is built on the four key pillars of demand, supply, financing and governance. Since 2019 we have made significant progress. To date there has been over €1.5 billion in support to homeowners to enable over 228,000 home energy upgrades, includin…

Budget 2026 has provided increased funding. That demonstrates the level of intent in regard to a €89 million increase and we do expect additional European funding through the ERDF. This funding is very much needed now to make homes warmer, healthier and cheaper to heat. We are also matching that funding with capacity. We are enhancing the grants. We know we need to simplify the application process. We need more one-stop shops. We now have around 26. We have increased the deeper, warmer home supports. We have also l…

Again, we are in the process of simplifying the application process. We understand we need to do more to drive down wait times. We want to continue to deliver deeper, more complex upgrades at an unprecedented scale. The target for next year is over 60,000 upgrades and we are very much looking at accelerating that further. We have looked at cost inflation around much deeper upgrades. They have substantially increased from €2,600 ten years ago to over €29,000 now. There has been a surge in demand and we cannot ignore…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta for his question. My Department funds a number of grant schemes administered by the SEAI for solar PV and heat pump installation as part of the national retrofit plan. To the end of September 2025, over 41,500 home energy upgrades had been completed with SEAI grant support. That compares with 38,000 in the same period in 2024, 34,000 in 2023, 16,062 in 2022, 9,938 in 2021 and 12,573 in 2020. That represents 10% growth on last year and 22% on 2023, showing strong momentum. I acknowle…

I thank the Deputy for his question and for outlining the challenges faced by some homeowners. We are looking at continuing policy development in regard to the national retrofit plan. In recent years, significant changes have been introduced as part of the retrofitting scheme. One part of that was a new pilot to support the retrofitting of traditional built homes. I will work with the Deputy on the specific instance he has raised. We have also introduced two pilots aimed at informing approaches to increase the numb…

Over 41,500 upgrades have been completed so far this year. We have been building momentum. I do not have the numbers on hand for traditional built housing, but I certainly can get that back to the Deputy. As I said earlier, we need more skills and contractors and better supply chain resilience. That is why we are very much focused on more SEAI staff for the warmer homes scheme, and indeed, more one-stop shop operators. It is at 26 already. To the Deputy's point, it needs to be ensured that all homes are included. T…

I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government, my Department and the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, are fully committed to protecting our rivers, safeguarding our fish stocks and supporting local communities and anglers. I fully recognise and acknowledge the seriousness of the fish kill on the River Blackwater near Mallow. This event has had a major impact on local community anglers and the wider catchment. From the outset, the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, was in regular contact with Inland Fisheries …

I thank the Deputy for her focus and attention, along with her colleague's, on this matter. It is the responsibility of Inland Fisheries Ireland to continue to safeguard the fish stock and the habitat within the River Blackwater near Mallow. The Minister of State is extensively engaging on the management plan moving into the future regarding this significant incident. As the Deputy said, three key measures have been established: the joint emergency protocol, the independent review and we and the Minister of State a…

We need to be very careful identifying ----

-----specific entities here in the House without the right to reply.

In fairness, we need to be very careful of the language we use regarding the extensive investigation that was undertaken around the ongoing monitoring of the River Blackwater and other catchments. It is incumbent on us to ensure this is done through an evidence-based, fact-finding mission. We are reassured that no water quality issues have been detected. We have also ensured that the river remains safe for angling and recreation. We have also monitored the drinking water for the Mallow treatment plant. That has bee…

I thank the Deputy for his question. Our Department is very committed to helping households cut energy, reduce emissions and generate their own clean power. Grants of up to €1,800 are available through the SEAI for solar photovoltaic, PV, installations in homes built and occupied before 2021. Since 2022, over 90,000 homes have received grants totalling over €196.7 million, delivering 450 MW of installed capacity and saving over 93 kt of CO2. This high demand shows the scheme is working and the solar industry has sc…

I thank the Deputy and understand the merits of the question on affordability and the challenges people may encounter when building homes. However, the grant eligibility for solar PV is very much focused on older homes where the need is greatest. Many homes built since 2021 must comply, as I said in my earlier contribution, with Part L of the building regulations and require high energy performance. Many builders have included heat pumps or solar PV during construction. Indeed, it reduces the overall installation c…

I again thank the Deputy for his response. We have already made changes to the uptake on solar PV installations. In May 2023, in order to bridge the affordability challenges we reduced the VAT rate to zero, which applies to new builds as well as existing homes. That was an important step forward. In doing so, we drove down the cost. As I said, retrofitting new homes on the basis that they will be eligible is not best practice for any builders, contractors or installers. The cost will be significantly greater. We wi…

My Department is committed to increasing recycling rates, reducing plastic waste and supporting investment in domestic recycling capacity. In 2023, Ireland recycled 30% of plastic packaging, exceeding the EU target of 22.5%. However, stricter targets of 50% by 2025 and 55% by 2030 will be challenging. These figures cover all plastics, including PET. As EU exporting reporting does not isolate individual polymers, currently most PET collected is recycled abroad due to economic viability, but measures are underway to …

Re-Turn has done a tremendous job over the last 18 months since the deposit return scheme, DRS, was introduced. Re-Turn, and the composition of its company as part of the extended producer responsibility, EPR, in the delivery of the DRS, is not obliged under the company law Act to publish its salaries. In good faith, however, it does provide its annual report, as per our Department requirements, and we are very much working closely with it to try to ramp up the DRS. To date, it has been very successful. Over €2 bil…

Again, we are working on how we can build additional capacity into our recycling systems to avoid the additional exportation of PET. I will say that Re-Turn has been good to work with. It is very efficient. It is a retail-led scheme. We have seen the success of it. It has been widely recognised. We are exploring avenues in regard to how we make use of the unredeemed deposits. The establishment of a recycling bottle-to-bottle plant will be an important part of how we deal with the additional consistent supply of hig…

No.

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising this Topical Issue in the Chamber. Like the Deputy, I share the same ambition on the delivery of inclusive education in our communities and I commend him on raising this important matter. The Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinati…

Again, I thank Deputy O'Rourke for giving me an opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for education and her Department. I appreciate the frustration the Deputy has expressed about the alignment of the NCSE, the SENO and the school. It should not have to be the case that the Deputy has to come in here and express his dissatisfaction with the fact the school has been put in this position. It is incumbent on us all to ensure the system becomes more streamlined, more agile and more responsive. It should be t…