Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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368. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 180 of 11 October 2018, the minimum energy rating a boiler must hold for it to be allowed to be installed in new homes here or as a replacement in existing homes.. [44458/18]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Building Regulations apply to the design and construction of a building and certain works to an existing building. The minimum performance requirements that a building/works must achieve are set out in the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations. These requirements are set out in 12 parts classified as Parts A to M. Part L – Conservation of Fuel and Energy, sets out the requirements in relation to the energy efficiency of boilers. 

Technical Guidance Documents (TGDs) provide technical guidance on how to comply with the building regulations in practical terms. TGD L contains guidance, compliance with which will, prima facie, indicate compliance with Part L.

Part L, Conservation of Fuel and Energy – Dwellings requires that for new dwellings, all oil and gas fired boilers shall meet a minimum seasonal efficiency of 90%. Where oil and gas fired boilers are installed as replacements in existing dwellings they shall meet a minimum seasonal efficiency of 90% where practicable.

I will shortly be publishing an update to Part L of the Building Regulations, for dwellings, to achieve the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive NZEB performance requirements.  When implemented, it will represent an improvement of 70% in energy and carbon dioxide emissions performance over 2005 standards for all new dwellings commencing construction from early 2019, subject to transition arrangements.

The Directive defines a Nearly Zero Energy Building, or “NZEB”, as a building that has a very high energy performance and that the nearly zero or very low amount of energy required should be covered to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources, including energy from renewable sources produced on-site or nearby.

 My Department has progressively updated Part L of the Building Regulations, relating to the Conservation of Fuel and Energy in Dwellings, over the last decade in order to improve the energy and carbon dioxide emissions performance of all new dwellings to achieve Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) performance levels. These incremental improvements have effectively eased the transition and minimized the additional effort required to achieve the NZEB performance for dwellings.