Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The Climate Change Advisory Council says we face €8 billion in fines for missing our emissions reductions targets. The Taoiseach's predecessor, Leo Varadkar, told the Business Post at the weekend the targets will not be met. About 10% of emissions are from heating and using electricity in residential homes. Housing for All commits to bringing in minimum BER standards for the private rental sector by 2025. There is no sign of that target being achieved and we are a couple of months away from 2025. Half of all private rented accommodation owned by individual landlords has a BER of D or lower. That is about 150,000 homes that are cold, damp and poorly insulated. It is much worse than the figure for owner-occupied housing. The reason for that is landlords do not suffer from the cold and damp; it is the tenants who suffer. Badly insulated homes cost around €2,500 extra to heat per year compared with B2-rated homes. That is a cost that is borne by the tenants, not the landlords. Tenants cannot avail of any of the schemes or grants for retrofitting. That is why on Monday I launched a Bill with Friends of the Earth to legislate for minimum BER standards in the private rented sector, prohibiting landlords from using retrofitting as a pretext for evicting tenants or raising rents. Will the Taoiseach bring in minimum BER standards for private rental accommodation?

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