Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the SEAI homeowners grant scheme; if a new scheme has been finalised; and if there will be an announcement on this funding stream shortly. [6162/21]

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 and to install 400,000 heat pumps in existing buildings over the next 10 years.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 this year to be funded by my Department through the SEAI. This represents an additional €100 million, or an 82% increase, on the 2020 allocation and is the largest ever budget for the schemes.

This funding enabled, in Q3 of last year, a call for projects under the new National Retrofit One-Stop-Shop Development Scheme and the Community Energy Grant scheme, kick starting the implementation of the national retrofit plan. Additional new retrofit schemes and initiatives will be launched in 2021 including:

- A B2 Bundle Scheme, which will facilitate deeper renovation of homes to BER B2, at scale, managed by one stop shops;

- A Heat Pump Ready Homes Campaign, which will use key data from the Building Energy Rating database to target homes that are suitable for the installation of heat pumps with grant incentives; and

- A Community Activation scheme focused on supporting Sustainable Energy Communities and small-scale, capacity-building projects, pilots and feasibility studies.

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.

It is intended to align the delivery of the Phase 2 of the retrofit plan with the review of the National Development Plan.