Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boylan for raising this important issue and for the timely opportunity to give an update on Government action to alleviate energy poverty.

The national retrofit plan, which was published as part of Climate Action Plan 2021, sets out how the Government will deliver on our retrofit targets and includes a range of matters aimed at supporting those least able to afford to retrofit. A key measure in that regard is a commitment to complete a review of the implementation of the strategy to combat energy poverty in the first quarter of 2022, which is March of this year. Good progress has been made in that regard and the review findings will inform the next steps in the development of a new strategy.

Energy poverty is influenced by a person's income, the energy efficiency of the home and the cost of the energy they use. Government policy, therefore, focuses on supplementing lower income households through the fuel allowance and other payments, as well as providing free energy efficiency upgrades through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, schemes and also through the social housing retrofit programme, for which the budget provided €85 million this year.

The effects of recent energy price increases have undoubtedly been felt across society, especially by those at risk of energy poverty. That is why the Government has acted to support householders through the introduction of an energy measure, which will provide a €100 credit to all domestic electricity accounts, as well new, specially enhanced grants for home insulation, which I will mention later.

Since the publication of the strategy to combat energy poverty, measures to support those at risk of energy poverty have continued to be improved and expanded. Funding for the SEAI energy poverty retrofit schemes has increased dramatically over the period, from €15 million in 2015 to €118 million for 2022. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will invest a further €85 million as part of the social housing retrofit programme this year. In addition, the fuel allowance was increased from €20 per week in 2014 and 2015 to €33 per week for 2021 and 2022.That is €924 per year. The Minister for Social Protection has also extended the eligibility criteria for the payment.

The Housing for All strategy has committed to introducing additional rent controls that will result in rental properties having a required minimum building energy rating. Protections remain in place for customers falling into arrears on their energy bills. These measures and improvements have had an impact, with the share of households at risk of experiencing energy poverty falling from 28% in 2016 to 17.5% in 2020 and the proportion of people who report that they are unable to afford to keep the home adequately warm falling from 9% in 2015 to 3.4% in 2020. These are positive indications but we still need to improve how we measure and monitor the number of households that could be at risk. A research network on fuel poverty chaired by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has been established to examine the data and metrics needed to improve existing measures for fuel poverty in Ireland. The group consists of representatives from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Department of Social Protection, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Central Statistics Office, CSO.

Yesterday, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications also announced further improvements to the supports available to homeowners to retrofit their homes, in line with the commitments in the national retrofit plan. A budget allocation of €109 million has been provided for the warmer homes scheme this year. This will support an increase in the number of free home upgrades, from an average of 177 per month last year to 400 per month this year, helping to reduce waiting times. Separately, grants for cavity wall and attic insulation will more than triple as part of the Government's response to the current exceptionally high energy prices. For instance, in the case of a semi-detached home, the attic insulation grant will increase from €400 to €1,300 and the cavity wall insulation grant will increase from €400 to €1,200. These are highly cost-effective upgrade measures that can be deployed rapidly and at scale this year. It is expected that these works will pay back in less than two years in most houses.

The new grant rates will cover approximately 80% of the typical cost of these measures and will be available to all homeowners. The details I have outlined demonstrate the Government's significant commitments to supporting those at risk of energy poverty.