Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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799. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason the better energy grants scheme no longer provides assistance for boiler upgrades; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12563/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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In 2015, the Energy White Paper, Ireland's Transition to a Low Carbon Energy Future 2015-2030, presented a long-term strategic vision to guide the direction of Irish energy policy from now until 2030. At its heart is a commitment to transform Ireland into a low carbon society and economy by 2050 and reduce the country’s fossil fuel dependency. This ambitious vision for Ireland’s energy system envisages a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from that sector by 80-95% relative to 1990 levels by 2050. In 2016, imported fossil fuels accounted for 69% of our energy needs at a cost of €3.4 billion.  The White Paper identified the long-term strategic importance of diversifying Ireland's energy generation portfolio and largely decarbonising the energy sector by 2050. This vision was further developed in the National Mitigation Plan (NMP) which I published in 2017.

Achievement of the commitments set out in the Energy White Paper and the NMP will require a significant transformation of Ireland’s energy system from being predominantly fossil-fuel based to a clean, low carbon energy system, including actions such as ending grant support for fossil fuels under the Better Energy Homes (BEH) scheme.

The BEH scheme is funded by my Department and administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).  The scheme provides grant aid to homeowners who wish to improve the energy performance of their homes. Fixed grants are provided towards the cost of a range of measures including attic insulation, wall insulation, heating controls upgrades, solar thermal panels and accompanying Building Energy Rating (BER). In 2017, over €16m was spent providing upgrades to 14,616 homes across Ireland. So far this year €2.2m has been spent on energy efficiency upgrades to 2,050 homes.

In December 2017 I announced changes to the grants available under this scheme. Previously a grant of €100 was available for the upgrade of a fossil fuel boiler when carried out along with the installation of heating controls, for which a grant of €600 was available.  Heating controls are an excellent way to control a household's energy usage and improve comfort.  The grant for heating controls has now been increased to €700 and no payment is now made for boiler upgrades. This grant is available regardless of the home's current heating system. At the same time I announced increased grant levels for external wall insulation and the introduction of a new grant for the installation of a heat pump, which is  a renewable heating system. Taken together, all of this is a concrete demonstration of the Government's commitment to support householders to move away from fossil fuel technologies.

Further information is available on the SEAI website, or by contacting SEAI on or 1850 376 666.