Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out that emissions from the residential sector must reduce from 7 MtCO₂eq in 2018, to 4 MtCO₂eq in 2030. The Government plans to achieve this target primarily through the national retrofit plan and the roll-out of renewable heating. The national retrofit plan sets out our target to upgrade the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a building energy rating, BER, of B2 cost-optimal or carbon equivalent, and to install 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes. Good progress is being made. In 2021, we delivered more than 15,000 home energy upgrades. In 2022, it was more than 27,000. This year, the target is over 37,000 home energy upgrades. We are on track to meet this, with more than 18,000 homes upgraded to the end of May.

The Climate Action Plan 2023 also contains a target to deliver up to 2.7 TWh of district heating by 2030. My Department will shortly submit the first report of the district heating steering group to the Government. To accelerate and drive delivery in this key area, a heat and built environment delivery task force has been established. Future high-level actions to be taken in respect of these areas will be set out in subsequent climate action plans.

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