Less than 10,000 Irish households took advantage of grants under the Better Homes Scheme, new figures supplied to Fianna Fáil have revealed.

The scheme, administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland in 2014, has been described as "entirely short sighted" by the party's spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Michael Moynihan TD.

A total of 110,000 people had taken part in the scheme in the first three years of its availability. The collapse in the number of households benefiting from the grant scheme comes after two separate rounds of cuts to the grants paid for activities such as wall insulation and the upgrade of boilers.

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Deputy Moynihan commented: "Encouraging home insulation is effective both as a means of reducing energy bills and Ireland's dependence on imported fossil fuels. It is also a means of supporting employment.

"In fact Ireland was developing a strong domestic industry with export potential before the government effectively pulled the rug from under the sector by slashing the available grants.

"Given the collapse in people availing of the grants, I have no doubt there has been a loss of jobs within the sector. It will also make it more difficult for Ireland to meet our retrofit and energy reduction target."

(CD/JP)