Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the students of Gorey Community School as well, and I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House.

My question relates to apartments and the apparent lack of State support for the retrofitting of these homes. The Government has a plan to retrofit half a million houses by the end of this decade. We also have a national retrofit plan, which was published two years ago. However, when I looked through the detail of the national retrofit plan, I did not see a single sentence in the whole document that deals with retrofitting apartments. The fact that apartments have been forgotten about is astonishing because the census data shows there are almost 35,000 apartments and flats in this country that were built before 1990, which is more than 30 years ago. In an area close to where I am based in Smithfield, almost 40% of people live in apartments, yet there is no recognition of these communities and complexes within the national retrofitting plan.That exclusion also is apparent when we look at the State supports provided by the SEAI. Obviously the SEAI funds individual homeowners and community projects. It seems that there are extraordinary challenges in funding owner management companies, OMCs, that manage apartment complexes. I have been told by a director of an OMC who wants to retrofit an entire apartment complex that 12 one-stop shop companies were contacted, but just one of them would provide a quote. This reflects the serious challenges one encounters when one wants to retrofit an apartment complex. The reason all of this is so important is that the many apartment dwellers who want to retrofit need to do so. This is about reducing bills, keeping more heat in and, crucially, reducing energy poverty. We know from ESRI research that has been published over recent years that those who live in apartments and flats tend to be, on average, on a lower income, their accommodation tends more to be rented than owner-occupied, and they are more likely to experience energy deprivation when compared with those who live in houses. There is a double-whammy whereby people who live in apartments and flats are more likely to be on a lower income, and more likely to rent. They find themselves locked in a situation where they cannot do anything to reduce their bills and cannot afford to move out due to the rental crisis in this country. If we are serious about tackling energy poverty, and the serious number of people who are in energy poverty, we must dramatically improve the lives of lower income people and take a very serious look at retrofitting apartment blocks.

I am very conscious of the serious technical challenges in retrofitting apartments, and I do not think anybody would deny that these challenges exist. There are issues with the type of work that is to be done, the scheduling of that work, the question of who is responsible for undertaking the work and the distribution of the benefit of the changes. In particular, I am thinking of where solar panels could be applied and who would benefit from those energy savings. I know that some apartment complexes that applied for energy master plans have not been fully funded by the SEAI because their OMCs are not tax registered. Again, that seems to be another blockage or obstacle to those living in apartment complexes trying to find a way to retrofit their developments.

In 2023, research on the retrofitting of apartment complexes was instigated and a report is due in the third quarter of 2024. I think that is a very slow turnaround time. It is very late in the day if we are serious about trying to retrofit dwellings and ensure we reduce energy poverty. The Government must make greater progress on a retrofitting plan for apartment blocks.