Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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495. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the estimated cost based on 2016 figures of increasing each grant value under the better energy homeowner grants to twice their value; and the estimated cost of increasing the solar heating grant to five times its value. [30830/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Better Energy Homes Scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on behalf of my Department. The scheme supports private homeowners who wish to improve the energy performance of their home. Fixed grants are provided towards the cost of a range of measures including attic insulation, wall insulation, heating system upgrades, solar thermal panels and accompanying Building Energy Rating (BER).

The measures currently offered were selected as the best balance that could be achieved between the resources available to the scheme, the number of homes that can receive support and the energy savings that can delivered. In short, the measures supported are those that can deliver the most energy savings at the lowest cost to the highest number of people.

The following table shows the cash impact if the level of each grant under the Better Energy Homes scheme (excluding the BER) were doubled and demand for grants was identical to that experienced in 2016. However, it must be noted that it is not simply a case of multiplying the 2016 allocation. Doubling the grants available would likely result in a significant increase in demand for grants, which would mean that it would be likely that the Exchequer resources devoted to the programme would also have to increase quite significantly to cope with this increased demand.

Broadly speaking the grants available are set at around 30-35% of the projected cost of each measure. Doubling grant levels would certainly increase demand for grants but would result in a lower return of energy savings for each euro of Government investment and would thus represent poorer value for money for taxpayers.

Quintupling the grant level for solar heating would result in a grant that covers more than 150% of the cost of installing a solar heating system. In other words, anyone who installed a solar heating system would receive a net benefit of approximately €2,000. This would be effective at promoting deployment of solar heating but again would not represent good value for money for the taxpayer and would place a considerable stress on the construction industry as they would have to adapt to what would likely be a very high spike in demand.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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496. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the estimated cost of introducing a domestic grant to cover a minimum one third of the cost of purchase of micro-scale wind generation, CHP, biomass boiler and air source heat pump in tabular form. [30831/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Better Energy Homes Scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on behalf of my Department. The scheme supports private homeowners who wish to improve the energy performance of their home. Fixed grants are provided towards the cost of a range of measures including attic insulation, wall insulation, heating system upgrades, solar thermal panels and accompanying Building Energy Rating (BER).

The measures currently offered were selected as the best balance that could be achieved between the resources available to the scheme, the number of homes that can receive support and the energy savings that can delivered. In short, the measures supported are those that can deliver the most energy savings at the lowest cost to the highest number of people.

Nevertheless as we move towards deeper renovation of homes, as will be necessary to meet our 2020 and 2030 climate and energy goals, other measures could become cost effective. My Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) are now testing out the channels for carrying out deeper renovation in homes across the country to inform future policy. That is why support for a much broader range of technologies is made available through the Better Energy Communities scheme, the recently announced Deep Retrofit pilot scheme and the Warmth & Well-being scheme.

In specific response to the Deputy's question, the cost of introducing a grant for a set percentage of the price of renewable technologies is impossible to estimate without conducting a comprehensive market survey of technology prices and considering likely demand scenarios for the introduction of such grants. No such assessment has been undertaken by my Department.

I can inform the Deputy that I have requested SEAI to undertake a review of technologies for consideration in home energy grant schemes. The results of this review will inform any future measures that may be offered. However, Government support for energy efficiency will continue to prioritise those measures which are cost effective to deliver and will always seek as the highest priority to reduce energy demand in the first instance.

In the electricity sector the primary support mechanisms for renewable electricity are the Renewable Electricity Feed-in-Tariff schemes, paid for electricity exported into the national grid. Micro-generation is not currently supported under any of these schemes.

My Department is currently developing a new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS). The design of the new scheme includes an extensive independent economic appraisal. This economic appraisal involves comparing the cost of supporting a range of technologies – including micro-generation of various technologies, to ensure that the new scheme delivers value for money for energy users whilst also delivering on the energy pillars of sustainability and security of supply. A public consultation on key design elements of the new support scheme will be published shortly.