Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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40. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the retrofitting of social housing and houses at risk of energy poverty under the expanded warmer homes scheme will be prioritised; and his plans to ensure that the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, will be in a position to assess applications and co-ordinate delivery in a timely manner. [42298/19]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Budget 2020 will direct €13 million in carbon tax revenue through the warmer homes scheme to retrofit homes for those living in or at risk of energy poverty. A new retrofitting model will upgrade groups of houses, with a programme targeting social houses in the midlands. The Oireachtas joint committee highlighted in March that the requirement for retrofitting is of the order of at least 1.5 million houses, including 130,000 social housing units that are the responsibility of housing authorities. Will the Minister outline the specific steps being taken to ensure the delivery of retrofitting for those in social housing and those at risk of energy poverty in the first instance?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. A just transition and protecting the most vulnerable are at the heart of the climate action plan, and measures announced as part of budget 2020 will support those most affected.

The better energy warmer homes scheme provides free energy efficiency upgrades to the homes of those living in or at risk of energy poverty. The scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, on behalf of my Department. As part of budget 2020, the Government has allocated a total of €52.8 million to the scheme for next year. This represents the largest ever allocation for the warmer homes scheme, more than double the initial allocation for 2019. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, €13 million of this funding is ring-fenced revenue arising from the increase in the carbon tax.

As the Deputy recognised, a further €20 million of the carbon tax revenue is being made available to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to deliver grouped upgrades as promised in the climate action plan. Targeted at the midlands, the scheme will be built around core work on some of the social housing stock in the region but also designed to allow other homeowners to opt in to the aggregation model, which will streamline services on an area basis. It will also support an estimated 400 jobs directly and indirectly. The specific design of the project will be led by the retrofit task force that was established in recent weeks and that is chaired by my Department. The significantly increased investment represents an important step towards realising the Government's climate action plan targets in the area of building retrofitting while prioritising the most vulnerable householders.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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We have been informed that the waiting time from the date of application to the SEAI under the warmer homes scheme to the date of final approval is over one year. We are dealing, therefore, with a process that is already under considerable strain. I ask the Minister to set out how the SEAI will be supported to co-ordinate and deliver a significantly expanded scheme. The Minister must also be aware that vulnerable individuals living in or at risk of fuel poverty may not be in a position to engage in a lengthy application and approval process. Naturally, not all householders may be familiar with the SEAI and its responsibilities. Therefore, it goes without saying that there must be a targeted and tailored process. There will be a challenge to facilitate and support engagement in hard to reach areas. I ask the Minister to address how an expanded scheme will be responded to effectively.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for those questions. The most practical way in which we will be assisting the SEAI is by doubling the budget of last year. It is also worth pointing out that there are about 35 community-based organisations that actively promote the scheme. They are embedded in their communities and have very good reach. The Deputy rightly points to the sorts of people who might not be familiar with the advantages of the scheme but, with the double budget, we will obviously be in a position to reach more. The information will be spread as effectively as possible. There are 300 sustainable energy communities today, and they are building steadily.

The second element is, of course, the area-based scheme, which is related to innovation. The idea is to consolidate the delivery of both advice and the work, so there will be much more of a turnkey arrangement and an area-based scheme in which both those in social homes and those who are not could participate.

We hope that the area-based scheme will make it easier for people to engage and be a more efficient way to deliver the work.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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When does the Minister expect to have an announcement about a move on the area-based scheme? I would also like to draw his attention to the recent recommendations of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in this area. It has highlighted the importance of retrofitting the social housing stock in the coming years such that resources are available for local authorities to reach a BER of B2 or higher by 2030. It has also noted the need for new community energy advisers who would work in partnership with the SEAI to reach those households. That could benefit most from the energy efficiency schemes. Support for local authorities will be essential in any new initiatives to be introduced to reach the most at-risk households. There needs to be greater engagement with local authorities. A recommendation from the Joint Committee on Climate Action was the establishment of a one-stop shop in each local authority to engage in outreach and to act as a repository for information for local communities.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I think the aggregation model will be the best way. It will be piloted in the midlands next year. The committee is working across Government as we speak. It is a priority for us to design that scheme. The advantages are those that the Deputy recognises himself. If we designate an area, we can identify all the homes in that area that we seek to reach, and we can deliver both the advice and the retrofitting in a more efficient manner to trigger more people's engagement, because they can opt into a scheme that is at their doorstep and with a turnkey opportunity to participate. That aggregated model is the way forward in the long term. It would move away from the individual grants that are currently a feature of the scheme. Since it is built around social homes, the success of that will meet the twin objectives that the Deputy raised of looking to the social housing stock and bringing in many others.