Pete Finn

And again, if it's an F-rating home, usually the interior of the home is going to need some upgrade as well.

Whereas if it's in, you know, somewhere close to an A grade home, you know that you're going to, it's going to be a cheaper house to run and you are more likely, and it is happening now where people are selling homes that have been retrofitted and they're getting more money than the same house on the same street that has got a much lower BER rating.

So I think those,

People are beginning to understand it.

I think when the energy upgrade systems first came out, people were trying to get their heads around it.

And I think most people are fairly well educated on it now.

Most people understand the difference between an A and a D or a G rated house.

Yeah, they are definitely like...

Of course, you absolutely do have to spend money.

And look, again, there was a lot of people out there saying, oh, but if you go through the grant system, the contractor is going to increase the price and it kind of levels out.

And, you know, maybe when the grants first came out, that may have happened.

I can tell you now it's not happening now.

And the grants have been increased a couple of times now.

So only at the start of this year, the grants were significantly uplifted.

And you can get a grant for like over 10,000 euros now to fit a heat pump.

There's no way that someone's going to be able to fit a heat pump for, you know, cheaper than getting the grant done.

And again, the advantage of going through the grant system is as well, you get peace of mind.

So the most difficult thing about renovation at the moment is actually getting someone to do it.

So you have to try and find a person, then you have to try and, you know, obviously come up with a design, get the cost and then commit to it.

where if you're doing a retrofit to your home, an element of work to your home, the SEAI have a list of registered contractors who've been vetted, who've been checked out, their work is constantly checked, and they're there with their hand up going, I'm willing to do this work.