Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. A just transition and protecting the most vulnerable are at the heart of the climate action plan, and measures announced as part of budget 2020 will support those most affected.

The better energy warmer homes scheme provides free energy efficiency upgrades to the homes of those living in or at risk of energy poverty. The scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, on behalf of my Department. As part of budget 2020, the Government has allocated a total of €52.8 million to the scheme for next year. This represents the largest ever allocation for the warmer homes scheme, more than double the initial allocation for 2019. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, €13 million of this funding is ring-fenced revenue arising from the increase in the carbon tax.

As the Deputy recognised, a further €20 million of the carbon tax revenue is being made available to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to deliver grouped upgrades as promised in the climate action plan. Targeted at the midlands, the scheme will be built around core work on some of the social housing stock in the region but also designed to allow other homeowners to opt in to the aggregation model, which will streamline services on an area basis. It will also support an estimated 400 jobs directly and indirectly. The specific design of the project will be led by the retrofit task force that was established in recent weeks and that is chaired by my Department. The significantly increased investment represents an important step towards realising the Government's climate action plan targets in the area of building retrofitting while prioritising the most vulnerable householders.

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