The national retrofit plan

Sir, – Sadhbh O’Neill urges us all to ditch our gas boilers and get retro-fitting (“Why we can’t afford to let the national retrofit plan fail”, Opinion, January 26th).

The people occupying the housing stock of the 1950s through to the 1990s have much more pressing demands.

Leaving aside the cost of living increases and soaring interest rates, they have to finance their children through college and, if they have any income or savings left over after all that, will be assisting those children to flee the nest.

Spending over €50,000 on a home retrofit simply is not on the radar.

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Pensioners in those houses are keeping whatever limited funds they have for healthcare and later living expenses and they won’t be borrowing either to do this work.

It would be much more sensible to offer very heavily subsidised basic upgrades for these houses and spend the rest building new A-rated housing stock. – Yours, etc,

RORY E MacFLYNN,

Blackrock,

Co Dublin.