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

I again thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. To be clear, between 2013 and 2021, a retrofit was completed in respect of 75,000 local authority homes. Moreover, there is a scheme in place specifically to deal with local authority housing and to give them a deep retrofit, and that scheme was revised last year. It will aim to bring 100,000 houses up to a BER of B2 or a cost-optimal equivalent rating. That will give people who are reliant on fossil fuels an alternative in the future, but it will take time and the Government has to be honest about that. We are now at capacity in our construction sector, higher than in pre-recessionary times. A massive retrofitting scheme is under way, as are some of the largest ever capital infrastructural projects in this country, with a value of €165 billion to be delivered over the next decade. The Government is working at pace to deliver those 500,000 homes.

In summary, the largest retrofitting scheme in the country since the State was formed is under way and will involve 500,000 homes. A total of 75,000 homes from our local authority stock have been completed since 2013.

As for the parliamentary question the Deputy asked the Minister, I will revert to the Minister to get the figures on the specific volume of stock that is reliant on fossil fuels and will relay the response directly to the Deputy.

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