Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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66. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number better energy home grants approved in 2016 and in the first half of 2017; his plans to enhance this grants process to give incentives to home owners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29817/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland  (SEAI) administers the Better Energy Programme on behalf of my Department.

The Better Energy Homes scheme provides fixed grants towards a range of energy efficiency interventions including roof insulation, wall insulation, heating controls, boiler upgrades, solar heating systems and the cost of Building Energy Rating assessments.

In 2016 15,265 homes were upgraded with grant of funding of just over €17m. To date in 2017, a further 6,537 homes have been upgraded with grant support of €7.3m. This investment has delivered an estimated 120 Gigawatt hours of energy savings, saving grant recipients nearly €9.4 million from their energy bills and reducing Ireland’s CO2 emissions by nearly 40,000 tonnes while supporting around 1,000 jobs in the construction industry.

The Better Energy Homes scheme is just one of a suite of measures that are available to people who wish to upgrade the energy efficiency of their home. The Better Energy Communities Scheme encourages community groups to come together and develop projects that can improve a range of homes and shared community facilities in a local area. This year an estimated €26m will support 42 such community projects.

In addition, I have made €5m available for a new scheme targeted at householders who want to upgrade their home to at least an A3 standard and install a renewable energy based heating system. Through SEAI, my Department will fund 50% of the cost of such projects on a first come first served basis.

For those people who cannot afford to invest in their home, the Warmer Homes scheme provides free energy efficiency upgrades on a national basis and the Warmth & Wellbeing pilot scheme offers deep renovations to people who are living in scheme’s area of operations and are suffering from respiratory conditions.  

In total around €80m will be dedicated this year to energy efficiency programmes. I anticipate that this funding will support the upgrade of around 25,000 homes in 2017 and hundreds of community facilities.

My Department and the SEAI are continually reviewing how best to support people who want to improve the energy efficiency of their home. As well as providing grant support we need to measure and communicate the other benefits that energy efficiency can bring such as improved air quality and health benefits. Alongside this additional capital spend, I have also secured funding that has provided for the creation of a new Behavioural Economics Unit within SEAI. This unit will bring an inter-disciplinary approach to the improvement of existing energy efficiency schemes and the design of new measures.