Written answers
Wednesday, 8 May 2024
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
Energy Policy
Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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286. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he or his officials have engaged with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications or his officials to use money collected through the carbon tax and through the Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Act 2023 to help tackle energy poverty in social housing in Ireland through measures such as the EnergyCloud initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20626/24]
Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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There is no direct funding from carbon taxes associated with the retrofitting budget for social housing which relies on voted expenditure as part of the annual budgetary process. In 2021 a new holistic approach was applied to the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP), designed around the Programme for Government's commitment led by the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications that calls for the 'retrofit' of 500,000 homes to a B2 (BER)/Cost Optimal Equivalent standard by 2030, of which, approximately 36,500 are expected to be local authority owned homes, with grant funding provided by my Department for those local authority housing retrofits.
An annualised breakdown of the funding and number of properties completed by each local authority is available at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/668c1-energy-efficiency-retrofitting-programme-expenditure-output/
The 2024 Energy Efficiency Retrofit budget for local authority homes provides an increase in Exchequer funding support to €90 million which will allow approximately 2,500 local authority owned social homes to be upgraded to a B2 or cost optimal equivalent (BER) this year. Local authorities have been notified of their targets and funding available but it will be later this year before significant claims have been received.
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