Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The local authorities are doing a good job retrofitting social housing stock. I had experience of that in my previous portfolio. We have an exacting target of retrofitting 500,000 homes by 2030. At the last count, the figure stood at approximately 165,000 across the country, both public and private. However, there is work to do be done.

To answer the Deputy's question on the grant offering, I have asked the SEAI to come back to me with options on that. I want to conclude that before the summer but I am not going to rush into it either. There are areas of the grants that are working very well but I want to make them more accessible. We have also expanded the energy retrofit loan scheme, as the Deputy will have noticed. If that is available, the interest rate is generally around 3% or less.

The heat policy statement is important and will guide us in this area. To inform the House as to where that is, I have a draft statement, which has been informed by the findings of the national heat study prepared by my Department. We have had consultations with other State agencies and Departments. A strategic environmental assessment, SEA, has been completed and a public consultation on the SEA report and draft heat policy statement will now be undertaken. I expect that to be done in the coming weeks. That will go out to public consultation and inform how we move forward. I thank the Deputy for his question.

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