Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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114. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the breakdown of the drawdown of the €100 million allocated to investment in residential and community energy efficiency further to the allocation of carbon tax expenditures provided in table 1 of the budget 2021 document, the Use of Carbon Tax Funds 2021; if any of these funds were surrendered back to the Exchequer at the end of 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9134/22]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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168. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount of funding allocated for retrofitting schemes that was unspent in 2021; if the funding was carried over for schemes in 2022; if not, if it has been used for other purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10001/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos.114 and 168 together.

The capital allocation for the residential and community retrofit schemes in 2021 was €221.5m, details of which are set out in the table below.This figure included €100m from the proceeds of the 2021 increase in carbon tax and €13m in continued carbon tax investment from 2020.

Expenditure in 2021 on the retrofit schemes was lower than allocations at €101.3m, mainly due to the impact of Covid-19. The €114.2m underspend was not surrendered but was retained by my Department and formed part of €160m transferred to the Energy Efficiency National Fund (EENF) in December 2021. 

Details of the €160m transfer to the EENF, which included €100 million to support energy efficiency improvements for households and €60 million for the proposed low interest rate loan scheme in 2022,  were set out at the Select Committee on the Environment and Climate Action at its consideration of a supplementary estimate for my Department on 1^stDecember 2021.

A total of €267m, of which €202 million is from the investment of carbon tax receipts, is being allocated for residential and community retrofit schemes in 2022. As outlined in the recently published National Retrofit Plan*,  this investment will support almost 27,000 home energy upgrades, including over 8,600 homes to a BER of B2 and 4,800 free energy upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty.

www.gov.ie/en/publication/5052a-national-retrofit-plan/

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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115. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if institutional investors or vulture funds will be eligible for taxpayer fund grants under the new national retrofit scheme for houses they own; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9165/22]

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 (or cost optimal equivalent), and to install 400,000 heat pumps to replace existing heating systems by 2030. The National Development Plan (NDP) has provided an unprecedented financial commitment to support achievement of the Government’s retrofit targets. A total of €8 billion of Exchequer funding (including €5 billion in carbon tax revenues) will be available to support residential upgrades to 2030.

The Government recently approved a package of supports to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades, for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills. Included in these measures was the establishment of the new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme, offering increased grant levels of up to 50% of the cost of a typical B2 home energy upgrade with a heat pump (up from the current level of 30-35%). Private homeowners, non-corporate landlords and Approved Housing Bodies whose properties meet the eligibility criteria can avail of the scheme.