Dáil debates

Tuesday, 20 September 2022

National Retrofit Plan: Motion [Private Members]

 

7:40 pm

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I am supporting the motion. The latest figures for fuel poverty seem to be from 2017. At the time, it was estimated that 475,000 households were affected by fuel poverty or, in other words, had to spend 10% of their income on heating their home. There is no up-to-date strategy to deal with fuel poverty.

The retrofitting of homes has to be a key element of combating fuel poverty by making homes easier to heat and cutting energy bills. It is also a key factor in meeting the State's climate change targets. It has been estimated that retrofitting all homes would decrease carbon emissions by 22%. However, the current retrofitting schemes are simply not up to the job. The cost of a deep retrofit for an average three-bedroom house is between €60,000 and €70,000, or more. A deep retrofit involves insulating attics and cavity walls and installing heat pumps to bring a house up to a B2 rating. The grant amount of €25,000 means that a householder would have to borrow between €35,000 and €45,000, which is beyond the means of most individuals. In effect, the better energy warmer homes scheme means those who cannot afford it are subsidising those who can. That is why I am opposed to the carbon tax. It is inequitable from the point of view of those who need it most.

Most Deputies received an email from a man in County Cork who had listened to Dr. Ciaran Byrne, the director of national retrofit for the SEAI, being interviewed on a radio programme and the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, being interviewed on the same programme shortly afterwards. The man states that he lives in a three-bedroom detached bungalow in west Cork. The house was built in 1980 and has a BER of D1. He wishes to deeply retrofit his home and, having done lots of research, hired an independent energy assessor from a company that does whole-house retrofit plans. The estimated cost for the deep retrofit drawn up by the energy assessor was €59,300. After the national housing retrofit scheme, NHRS, grant, the final cost to him would be €30,600, which he can just about afford. After the independent assessment, he contacted every one-stop shop listed on the SEAI website. He got a shock when the estimated quotes for the work started to come through. He attached to the email a selection of the quotes he received. One is for €92,400. After the grant, that would leave him with €60,000 to pay. Another came in at €108,700. His heart sank as quotes started to come in and he realised there was no way he could possibly afford this. When he heard Mr. Byrne expressing surprise at quotes as big as those and then later, in a separate interview, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, stating that no one in her constituency had complained to her about the cost of deep retrofits, he was really frustrated and left with the feeling that he cannot afford the retrofit.

That is the reality of what is going on in a lot of instances in the context of the schemes. The scheme needs to be reformed and reorientated towards those most in need. There needs to be funding for the retrofitting of local authority houses and the homes of those on social welfare, for example. Dublin City Council has retrofitted fewer than 900 homes in almost four years, with the average BER improved only from an F rating to a C1 rating. Those homes will probably need to be redone in future to bring them up to a B2 rating. Dublin City Council's target is to retrofit just 225 homes a year. On that basis, it will take 14 years to do the 2,800 homes remaining and 1,700 units will be left with below standard upgrades. There needs to be an increase in funding for local authorities to dramatically increase their targets and there needs to be oversight to ensure that proper standards are met. There should be increased funding to older people and those on welfare, while a new scheme to make retrofitting accessible to those on lower wages or incomes is also needed. There should be increased grant funding for solar PV, as well as a national body to run retrofitting by the State.

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