The Government has an ambitious retrofitting plan but I am concerned that it is a case of building castles in the sky. I could list many cases of families, renters and homeowners, who are pensioners in some cases, who live in cold homes that are D-rated or worse. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland was with them a decade ago so they will not see it again, such are the rules. There is no funding for windows or doors. These people are not in a position to avail of other subsidies because they do not have disposable income but they are promised that they might be one of 500,000 deep retrofits by 2030. I welcome the ambition but I firmly believe that we need a plan in place to support those people who are most in need between now and 2030. My concern is that the ambition is way out in the future and in the interim people will live in homes that are D-rated and worse, with no real proposition of improving windows, doors or attic insulation. It is a matter of prioritisation for those most in need.

I welcome the publication of the climate Bill, which addresses these issues but work has to start now in a vigorous way. The 500,000 homes to be done by 2030, to which Deputy O'Rourke referred, would represent 3 million tonnes, which equates to just one year of the target we hope to achieve each year for ten years. I hope there is broad consultation on how we will deliver this target. and this needs to start urgently. I hope we see the end of people calling for a just transition and then refusing to support measures such as carbon pricing, which are essential if we are to achieve this ambitious target.

I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. We published the climate Bill earlier this week and it commits us to a 51% reduction in emissions between now and the end of 2030. In the main, the emissions come from transport, agriculture and buildings, including our homes, so retrofit will have to be a huge part of the way forward. There will be public consultation on this. We will need the proceeds from the carbon tax to help co-fund it. The two are inextricably linked. It is very ambitious because we will run into constraints. We need to build a lot of new public infrastructure in this country over the coming decade. We need to build a lot of housing and we also need to retrofit a lot of old housing. We will run into constraints regarding construction workers and this is why we are ramping up apprenticeships and doing more to encourage people to go into them.