Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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81. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will provide the necessary funding to Dublin City Council to allow the local authority to commence phase two of the insulation programme to provide insulation to the older, single brick housing in view of the serious level of fuel poverty in older council properties. [31098/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Local authorities are continuing with an ambitious programme of insulation retrofitting this year and further funding of some € 33 million for that purpose has been made available to end-2016.  This is additional to funding of some €85 million provided from 2013 to 2015 to improve energy efficiency and comfort levels in over 46,000 local authority homes. This Programme benefits those at risk of fuel poverty and is making a significant contribution to Ireland’s carbon emissions reduction and energy reduction targets for 2020. The Programme is being implemented in a number of 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 had been retrofitted, with further good progress being made 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 commenced on a pilot basis in both Fingal and Westmeath local authorities and the outcome of this pilot work will inform the full national roll-out of Phase 2 across all local authorities in 2017. In the mean time, all local authorities, including Dublin City Council, have been informed that funding will be considered for Phase 2 works on a case by case basis.

In 2016, funding of €825,000 has been provided to the City Council to continue with Phase 1, in addition to €140,800 for a pilot Phase 2 project at Cromcastle Court, Coolock. This pilot project involves the external insulation of an apartment complex and the outcome will inform future projects of this nature.