John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy. A commitment was included under Housing for All to develop a roadmap to implement minimum building energy rating, BER, standards where feasible for the private rental sector. This work supports the objectives set down in the Government's climate action plan. My Department is committed to improving energy efficiency in the rental market and our work in this area is being informed by researched commissioned from the ESRI.

The ESRI research paper, published earlier this year, explores the investment requirements for energy efficiency upgrades in the private rental sector. The ESRI research is a valuable contribution to our understanding of future investment requirements to ensure the appropriate energy efficiency upgrades in the private rental sector, and it will help in the development of policy and actions in this area.

As part of Ireland's residential retrofit programme, the Government launched a new package of supports targeting homes that were built and occupied pre-2011. These supports have been made available to non-corporate landlords and approved housing bodies to improve the efficiency of their rental properties. A home energy upgrade loan scheme, launched in 2024, enables homeowners, including non-corporate landlords, to borrow between €5,000 and €75,000 at significantly lower interest rates to complete a home energy upgrade.

A tax incentive is now in place to encourage small-scale landlords to undertake retrofitting works while the tenant remains in situ. Budget 2026 included the announcement that the income tax deduction for small landlords who retrofit their properties will be extended for a further three years. The appropriate balance has to be struck between improving the energy efficiency of our rental stock any potential impact that any intervention may have on the private rental market, particularly around availability of accommodation. This is an area that is being kept under active review.

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