Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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392. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the energy upgrade work funded by his Department over the past two years, by county (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50751/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Funded by my Department, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) delivers a number of programmes that support energy efficiency across the residential, public and commercial sectors.

The Better Energy Homes (BEH) scheme provides grant aid to 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 systems upgrades, solar thermal panels and accompanying Building Energy Rating (BER). In 2016 over €17m was spent providing upgrades to 15,265 homes across Ireland. To date in 2017 almost €15m has been spent for upgrades to 13,577 homes.

The Better Energy Warmer Homes (BEWH) scheme delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to low income households vulnerable to energy poverty. The measures available typically include draught proofing, attic insulation, lagging jackets for hot water tanks, low energy light bulbs, cavity wall insulation and roof and wall ventilation. In 2016 spend of €17.1m provided upgrades to 6,839 homes. To date in 2017 spend of €15.2m has provided upgrades to 5,620 homes.

The Warmth and Wellbeing Pilot Scheme commended in 2016. It is funded by my Department and is a joint policy initiative with the Department of Health.  It is operated by SEAI and the HSE. The aim of the pilot is to provide deep energy efficiency interventions to people living with chronic respiratory conditions who are in or at risk of energy poverty. By making their homes warmer, more comfortable and cheaper to run, it is hoped that this will improve their health and wellbeing. The pilot scheme is currently operating in Dublin 8, 10, 12, 22 or 24. In 2016 spend of €0.5m helped upgrade 72 homes. To date in 2017 spend of €2.6m has upgraded 196 homes. I expect that upgrades to 500 homes will have been completed by end year.

The Better Energy Community scheme cut across a variety of sectors, so it is not possible to give a strict breakdown of the scheme according to individual sectors. Projects can also involve participants from more than one county. Details of Better Energy Communities projects in 2016 and to date in 2017, their spend and their county location are set out in the following table.

The Deep Retrofit Pilot scheme commenced operation in 2017. The scheme aims to help us understand how best we can persuade people to invest in the deep retrofit of their homes and what solutions we need to put in place to make it easy for them to do so. To be eligible for support, a home must be upgraded to at least an A3 standard on the Building Energy Rating scale and the heating system must be upgraded to a renewable energy alternative.

For the commercial and public sector, not all investment is categorised on a county basis. The following tables detail the funding allocated through SEAI this year in support of commercial and public sector grant supports with the county breakdown details available for the preparation of this reply. 

In 2017, as part of the implementation of the Public Sector Energy Efficiency Strategy, SEAI on behalf of the Department, and in collaboration on a shared cost basis with the Department of Education (DES), undertook medium to deep retrofits in ten schools across Ireland. Works included fabric upgrades (typically walls and roofs but also some windows and doors), heating system upgrades, lighting system upgrades and Building Management Systems.  The total cost of the pilot is estimated to be €4.33m (on shared basis between both Departments – 50% each).  The location of each school and cost of upgrades are set out in the following table. The objective of this scheme is to develop replicable specifications for deep retrofits of schools.

Two pilot schemes were launched in 2017 to support energy efficiency upgrades in the commercial sector. 

The Dairy Sector Project - a collaboration between SEAI and Teagasc - supports installation of variable speed drive technology in milking parlours, as well as Vacuum Pumps, and smart meters. The subvention level is 50%. Over 50 applications were processed with a total grant amount of €231,638. These technologies can reduce energy consumption considerably on a farm.

The SME Smart Lighting Scheme, aimed at small and medium enterprises - such as jewellers, fitness centres, nursing homes, small hotels and large B&Bs, retailers and pharmacies - encourages such businesses to change their lights to more energy efficient lights. There are currently 39 SMEs benefitting from the scheme with current projected grant funding of €603,000 resulting in total investment of just over €1.5m (including the grant which is typically 40%).