Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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239. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated carbon emission reduction savings, as modelled by his Department, by bringing 100,000 poorly insulated homes up to each of the following building energy ratings of C3, C2, C1, B3, B2 and B1, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4804/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The 2021 Climate Action Plan (CAP21) committed to reducing emissions from the residential and commercial buildings sectors to between 3.5 - 4.5 Mt CO2eq. by 2030, from 7.9 Mt in 2018. CAP21 also set out an ambitious National Retrofit Plan detailing how the targets to retrofit 500,000 dwellings and to deploy 600,000 heat pump installations, in both new and existing dwellings, would be met. The National Retrofit Plan estimates that, between 2019 and 2025, almost 185,000 home energy upgrades will be delivered with over 83,000 to a B2/cost optimal level. When the emissions savings from the non-B2 upgrades are included, this is the equivalent of 120,000 B2 upgrades over the period. As a result, there will a need to deliver, on average, approximately 75,000 B2-equivalent home upgrades per year from 2026 to 2030 to achieve the overall target of 500,000 by 2030. My Department has not separately modelled the emissions savings associated with less ambitious building energy ratings.

A significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector resulting from the National Retrofit Plan is not likely to be seen until the latter half of the decade, as numbers of dwellings retrofitted increase as set out above.

Aside from reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, residential retrofit brings additional benefits, including reduced energy costs, improved comfort and health, less dependency on fossil fuels, and improvements in indoor and outdoor air quality.

CAP21 contains a range of measures and targets across all sectors of the economy, including targets for increased renewable electricity generation, increased in sustainable mobility, and for the built environment in general. Other targets in the built environment sector include:

Strengthening the existing Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) requirements for new dwellings to effectively ban fossil fuels in new dwellings;

Ramp-up of zero emissions heat in commercial building; and

Increased targets for the roll-out of district heating.

Reaching the targets set out in our Climate Action Plans and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions will only be achieved by all sectors of the economy and society working together to reach our common goal.