Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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58. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the establishment of a national retrofitting delivery body to be set up by end of 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2916/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government and the Climate Action Plan set ambitious targets to retrofit 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating of B2/cost optimal and to install 400,000 heat pumps in existing buildings over the next 10 years. In order to assist with the achievement of these targets, €221.5 million in capital funding has been provided this year through my Department’s Vote to the SEAI for residential and community retrofit schemes. This represents an 82% increase on the 2020 allocation and is the largest amount ever for the schemes. This allocation will kick-start the first phase of our national retrofit plan.

It is essential that appropriate structures and governance arrangements are put in place to help us meet our retrofit targets. For that reason, a further key aspect of phase one of the retrofit plan was the designation, in quarter 4 last year, of the SEAI as the National Retrofit Delivery Office. Significant additional resources were provided as part of Budget 2021 to increase the capacity of the organisation to drive delivery of our retrofit targets. The process of restructuring the organisation and recruiting the necessary expertise is underway.