Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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193. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if grants are available for a new roof and energy efficient works for persons refurbishing an old house in a rural area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35030/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The SEAI operates a number of energy efficiency upgrade schemes on behalf of my Department.These schemes include partial grants for individuals that can afford to contribute to the cost of energy efficiency upgrades as well as schemes that provide free energy efficiency improvements for people who are in receipt of certain welfare payments.  Information on the grant levels available by scheme is available from the SEAI on 1850 250 204 or their website at Grants are available for a range of measures including:

- Attic insulation

- Wall insulation (cavity wall, drylining or external insulation)

- Heat pump installation

- Heating controls

- Solar thermal panels for hot water

- Solar PV panels for electricity generation

- Window and door replacement

SEAI grant schemes will be a central element of the Government’s approach to achieving our national retrofit targets. Budget 2021 provided €221.5 million in capital funding for residential and community retrofit programmes next year to be funded by my Department through the SEAI. This represents an additional €100 million, or 82% increase, on the 2020 allocation and is the largest amount ever in the budget for the schemes. A further €65 million has been provided for retrofitting the social housing stock through the Vote of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Replacement of a roof is  not an energy efficiency measure and is not funded by the schemes administered by the SEAI. Local Authorities administer a number of home improvement schemes that can help private homeowners in certain circumstances, including upgrades to heritage properties. More information is available form the relevant Local Authority.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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194. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans for the introduction of a simpler application process for homeowners in accessing home energy grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35283/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government and the Climate Action Plan set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, including our homes, with targets to retrofit 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating of B2/cost optimal equivalent and to install 400,000 heat pumps in existing buildings over the next 10 years. SEAI retrofit schemes will form a crucial part of our approach to achieving these targets.  Full details on the application processes for schemes operated by the SEAI are available at .  Improvements to the processes that apply to individual schemes are made on an ongoing basis.  The most recent example of this was the launch in recent days of the Communities Energy Grant which has seen the evaluation process for applications shortened from 12 weeks to 6-8 weeks.  Online applications for the Better Energy Homes scheme already receive an immediate response. Further improvements, including changes to the SEAI’s systems and processes, will be implemented as we transition to our new retrofit programme.

It is recognised however that more will need to be done to simplify the customer journey for householders considering energy efficiency upgrades.  This will be achieved by shifting the burden of retrofit project coordination from homeowners to one-stop-shops.  One-stop-shops make retrofit projects simpler for homeowners by combining the different components associated with retrofit projects including demand generation, home assessments, grant application, contractor engagement, project management, quality assurance and finance provision.

The recently launched call for projects under the new National Retrofit (One-stop-shop development) scheme is designed to encourage and support the development and growth of one stop shops which will act as a single point of contact for customers and deliver an end-to-end service.  They will also facilitate larger more efficient delivery of retrofits.