Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and allowing me the opportunity to provide an update on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Like him, I come from a large rural constituency that is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, so I very much understand the need to have an alternative in place before certain public policy measures are pursued. If that is not the case, we will lose people along the way and we will not reach our targets in the long run.

The Department launched the energy efficiency retrofitting programme in 2013 with the aim of funding the retrofit of social homes requiring insulation and energy upgrade works. Since the programme commenced in 2013 up to the end of 2021, more than 75,000 units of social housing stock were retrofitted, with a total Exchequer spend of €183 million under the scheme. The programme was revised in 2021, with an increased budget made available to local authorities. A significant part of the programme is focused on minimising heat loss by upgrading the external fabric, walls, roof space, windows and doors and heating systems. The funding available under the terms of this new, deeper retrofit programme does not, however, provide for fossil fuel heating systems or inset stoves in place of open fires. If appropriate, local authorities can install such systems using funding from their own resources. The revised ten-year programme will see a significant upscaling to a retrofit deeper than what has been completed by local authorities in previous years. A strong emphasis on fuel poverty and the need to improve thermal performance in the social housing stock remains a top priority for the Department.

In 2021, more than €21.7 million of Exchequer funding support was provided for retrofit work carried out on 1,584 dwellings. The Department acknowledges the difficult environment within which local authorities had to work in 2021, with a construction shutdown and supply chain problems impacting on delivery, and I look forward to significantly improved output under this programme in 2022. The newly revised and enhanced programme will benefit not only local authorities in assisting them in the upgrade and maintenance of their housing stock but also, more importantly, homeowners and householders in many ways. Their homes will be warmer, easier to heat and more comfortable, it will enhance the air quality in the home, and those currently using oil or gas will see a significant saving on their energy bills. The scheme will also stimulate employment. The retrofitting of homes is a highly labour-intensive sector that can create high-quality, sustainable jobs in local communities and it has the capacity to play an important role in our economic recovery.

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