Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I listened with interest to the points raised by the Senator. I thank her again for raising this very important issue. As we see in all our constituency offices, this matter is very pertinent. I will bring these issues back to the Minister.

The Government has set ambitious targets for Ireland to achieve by the end of the decade, including almost halving greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector, upgrading almost 30% of the housing stock to a BER of B2 cost-optimal or carbon equivalent and installing 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems. This constitutes one of the most ambitious retrofitting programmes worldwide.

This year has seen exceptionally high demand and there has been a huge uptake. Almost 41,000 applications have been received, which is an increase of 152% on the same period last year. Nearly 19,000 energy upgrades have been completed, which is an increase of 59%. More than 3,600 homes have been upgraded under the SEAI energy poverty schemes and almost 6,000 homes have been upgraded to a BER of B2 or better. The Department is working closely with the SEAI to build on this strong performance. There is a robust activity plan for the rest of the year.