Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the funds allocated for social housing for retrofitting measures 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 since its inception; the number of homes fitted out per category of work and any unmet demand for each year, in tabular form in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17561/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Local authorities are currently undertaking an ambitious programme of insulation retrofitting, with the support of my Department, on the least energy efficient social homes. Funding of some €85 million has been provided from 2013 to end-2015 to improve energy efficiency and comfort levels in over 46,000 local authority homes, benefitting those at risk of fuel poverty and making a significant contribution to Ireland’s carbon emissions reduction targets and energy reduction targets for 2020.

The insulation retrofitting programme is being implemented in two phases: Phase 1 commenced in 2013 and is focused on providing attic/roof insulation and the less intrusive cavity wall insulation in all relevant properties. There are 80,000 social homes to be tackled in that phase and to end-2015, some 46,000 homes have been retrofitted, with further good progress anticipated under that phase in 2016.

Phase 2 of the programme will focus on the external fabric upgrade of those social housing units with solid/hollow block wall construction, of which there are 28,000 homes. This phase has commenced on a pilot basis in both Fingal and Westmeath local authorities in 2015 and the outcome of this pilot work will inform the full national roll-out of Phase 2 across all local authorities. Boiler upgrades will be considered in future phases of the programme in all relevant properties.