Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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865. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will report on the home energy grants under the auspices of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland by county (details supplied); the action he will take to increase the uptake of home energy grants in the Dublin region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54264/18]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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866. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of applications in relation to home energy grants administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland by county in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date in 2019; the number refused, accepted and appealed, respectively in each of the years in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54265/18]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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871. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the details of home energy upgrades by each of the four Dublin local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54387/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 865, 866 and 871 together.

The home energy grants administered by the SEAI are funded by my Department. The majority of these grants are available to homeowners whose properties were built before 2006. Since the introduction of these grants nearly 400,000 homes across the country have received an energy efficiency upgrade, representing nearly one home in five across the country.

Better Energy Homes provides a financial incentive (typically covering 30% of the cost of works) to private homeowners who wish to improve the energy performance of their homes.

The Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme provides a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to low income households vulnerable to energy poverty who meet the defined eligibility criteria.

Better Energy Communities supports energy efficiency upgrades to mixed projects of homes, community facilities and businesses in a local community. This scheme provided funding of €20m in 2018 to 37 projects across the country, upgrading 1,189 homes and 454 community buildings.

The Warmth and Wellbeing Scheme is a joint energy, social and health policy initiative aimed at validating the health impacts of improved energy efficiency in a home. The pilot scheme was established in HSE Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) 7, specifically in Dublin 8, 10, 12, 22 & 24.

The Deep Retrofit Pilot Scheme launched in 2017 is available to homeowners who want to upgrade their house to an A BER while availing of grant support of up to 50%.

The following table presents the number of homes upgraded and the investment made per county under these schemes in 2018.

A number of actions are already underway to encourage uptake of home energy grants by homeowners. For example, the Better Energy Homes Scheme was expanded in 2018 to support the transition away from fossil fuels, and achieve greater energy savings and emissions reductions, by introducing a new grant for heat pumps and increasing the grant amount available for all other measures. More information can be found on In addition, the Better Energy Warmer Homes was expanded in 2018 to include internal and external wall insulation which allows more people to avail of the scheme while also increasing the energy savings and emissions reductions.

The following table sets out the number of applications, completed and cancelled, per county under the Better Energy homes grant scheme. The number of appealed applications is not captured separately as these applications go on to become either completed or cancelled. Applications can be cancelled either by SEAI due to ineligibility or by the homeowner if they change their mind about getting work done.

The Deputy has also asked about homes upgraded in each of the four Dublin local authorities. Local authorities are responsible for maintenance and upgrade of their housing stock and my Department therefore does not keep a record of these upgrades. Government funding of approximately €116 million has been provided by the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government, from 2013 to the end of 2017 to improve energy efficiency and comfort levels in almost 64,000 local authority homes. This was Phase 1 of the social housing retrofit programme and focused on the lower-cost improvements such as cavity wall and attic insulation. In addition, energy efficiency measures have been carried out in over 9,000 vacant houses that have been returned to use since 2014. This effectively means that approximately 50% of the social housing stock has already undergone a level of energy retrofit. Phase 2 will commence shortly and will target higher-cost and higher impact measures such as external insulation and replacement of single-glazed windows. Approximately 30% of the social housing stock, or 40,000 homes are more than 40 years old and will be the main priority for phase 2. The ambition is to achieve a BER B standard for these homes. The timeline will be determined by the funding available over the coming years.