Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the finance that is available for the retrospective upgrading of local authority housing to BER rating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56926/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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nister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (Ms. J. O'Sullivan) In line with overall national policy which promotes a reduction in energy use, the enhancement of energy efficiency standards remains a priority within my Department’s overall strategy for the improvement of local authority housing. Under the Department’s Social Housing Investment Programme, local authorities are allocated capital funding each year in respect of a range of measures to improve the standard and overall quality of their social housing stock. The programme includes a retrofitting measure aimed at improving the energy efficiency of older apartments and houses by reducing heat loss through the fabric of the building and the installation of high-efficiency condensing boilers.

Some €18 million was allocated to local authorities for this purpose in 2012. My Department provides a grant of up to €15,000 per dwelling, depending on the energy improvement achieved, for necessary works such as attic and wall insulation, the replacement of windows and external doors and the fitting of energy-efficient condensing boilers. Additional funding, to a maximum of €3,000, is available for other essential improvement works to the dwelling. Under this year’s improvement works programme, the focus remains on returning vacant properties to productive use. Given the constraints on new local authority housing supply, it is important that the existing stock of local authority housing is available and in fit condition to meet housing need.

While the objective is to improve the general standard of a local authority house and increase the Building Energy Rating (BER) to as high a level as possible, with C1 being the target figure, it may not be practicable to bring every dwelling to this standard, especially in the case of older stock. I intend to review the retrofitting measure, in the context of the work programme for 2013, with a view to possible changes to improve the effectiveness of the measure.