Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While the plan to retrofit homes is of course welcome, this plan will predominantly benefit people with means. Struggling working families will be encouraged to take on more debt if they want warm homes. There are aspects of the scheme that are very welcome, such as the SEAI no-second-visit rule being removed and a step-by-step scheme of small works will be supported.

There are, however, serious concerns that it will result in a three-tier programme. On the first tier, there will be grants and immediate work for those who are able to pay. On the second tier it could be delayed works for those in local authority housing or those on the warmer homes scheme. Under third tier there would be minor works or no works at all for renters and those on low incomes. This has the potential to be deeply regressive.

Under this plan, people who have €25,000 on hand, for example, will be able to get up to €25,000 in grants, funded by the ever-increasing carbon taxes. Meanwhile, for working families who are struggling to get by, the Government's answer is to take on more debt. Those on low incomes are once again being left behind. The plan is prioritising an ability to pay over need. The plan could have been more equitable. It could have included graduated grants based on income and ability to pay, targeting those most in need earliest in the delivery, and including those in social housing. The Government could have incorporated a dedicated scheme for households with children who are living in energy poverty.

The warmer homes scheme is under-resourced. There are currently approximately 7,000 houses awaiting work on the scheme work programme. The local authority scheme is also under-resourced. It is expected to deliver only 2,400 retrofits out of an estimated 27,000 energy-efficiency upgrades this year. Private tenants have been forgotten in the plan. Many tenants are living in cold and poorly insulated homes. There is nothing in this plan to address this. There are no incentives for landlords to make energy-efficient changes. It will leave renters having to continue to pay huge and rising heating bills.

Taxpayer funded grants should be targeted to provide financial assistance to those who really need help paying for energy upgrades: those least well off in the coldest houses. Sinn Féin allocated €75 million more than the Government in our alternative budget in 2022 to achieve just that.

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