Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter. He has covered most of the issues that need to be addressed through the new schemes that are being brought forward. I have listened with interest to the points raised by the Deputy. I will make sure they are brought to the attention of the Minister and his team in the Department who are working on these matters.

As I mentioned earlier, the new national residential retrofit plan, published on 4 November as part of the Climate Action Plan 2021, sets out how we will achieve ambitious targets to retrofit 500,000 homes to a building energy rating of B2 and to install over 400,000 heat pumps in existing buildings over the next number of years. It identifies an unprecedented €8 billion to support homeowners to retrofit their homes to 2030. We must make sure those schemes are reformed correctly to make use of that money and ensure it reaches the right people, those who need assistance, as the Deputy has identified. The plan sets out measures designed to address barriers to retrofitting in the key areas of driving demand and activity; financing and funding; and supply chain, skills and standards. It also sets out measures to support those least able to afford to retrofit to participate. Those include the people the Deputy is representing tonight and those he has mentioned in his questions. They include people in low-income households and in the rental sector. It is important to point that out.

The annual allocations set out in the plan totalling €8 billion will primarily be used to fund the expansion and enhancement of the SEAI residential and community retrofit schemes, including the warmer homes scheme, and their reformation, as well as other initiatives to support retrofitting. The consistent and significant increase in the annual allocations will help the sector to grow in a sustainable way over the years to come.

Funding for the SEAI's free energy poverty retrofit schemes has increased dramatically in recent years and we want to build on that. It increased from €15 million in 2015 to €109 million in 2021. This shows the Government’s commitment to the issue and to reflect the needs the Deputy has highlighted. The budget 2022 allocation for energy poverty schemes, including the better energy warmer homes scheme, is €109 million. As I said earlier, the SEAI’s business plan for 2022 is currently being examined by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and will be announced soon.

The average value of the energy-efficiency measures provided per household under the better energy warmer homes scheme has also increased very significantly, year on year, from approximately €3,000 per home in 2018 to more than €17,000 in 2021. We recognise that it will probably cost more than that for the full retrofit scheme that is now being recommended. The deepening of retrofits provided does not mean that each home takes longer to deliver and it should not mean that. We want to bring those waiting times back down. I am confident that the actions I have outlined will increase output, address the Covid-related delays and have the effect of significantly decreasing average wait times over the coming year. We need to make sure we can get the one home, one visit rule changed.

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