Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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141. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if retrofitting grants will be available to persons with solid fuel central heating systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9623/22]

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 review of the National Development Plan (NDP) resulted in 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 has recently approved a package of improvements including increased grants of up to 50% and other supports as part of the accelerated delivery of Ireland’s residential retrofit programme. These measures are aimed at making it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades, for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills and lower emissions.

Persons with solid fuel central heating systems who wish to install heat pumps are eligible for retrofitting grants available from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. 

Grants for heat pumps are available under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme as well as under the Community Energy Grant scheme as part of a whole house upgrade solution, because in these instances they tend to be required to achieve an energy efficient home to B2.

Grants for heat pumps are also available as individual measures under the Better Energy Homes Scheme.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount of funding provided for the aggregated housing upgrade scheme; the amount spent to date; the progress to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9661/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Government has recently approved a package of improved supports as part of the delivery of Ireland’s residential retrofit programme. These measures are aimed at making it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades, for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills and emissions.

In this regard, the new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme will offer 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%).

The total capital funding cost for the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme is €97 million with a €40 million allocation in 2022 and €57 million in 2023. This is expected to deliver 2,000 deep energy retrofits, to B2 level with a heat pump, in 2022 and an additional 3,000 in 2023.

A key feature is the new one stop shop model, that is suitable to bringing together groups of homes for aggregated projects thereby creating efficiencies in delivery and fostering new innovation in processes and technologies.

The Community Energy Grant Scheme also continues to make grant funding available for community-based partnerships to improve the energy efficiency of the building stock in their area. The Scheme is designed to support cross-sectoral, partnership approaches that deliver energy savings to a range of building types including public, commercial and community buildings but with a particular focus on using the projects to deliver home retrofits.

The total budget for the Community Energy Grant scheme will be €43 million in 2022, of which approximately €15 million will relate to home retrofits. The new grant rates announced under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme will also be available under the Community Energy Grant scheme for homeowners wishing to undertake their energy upgrades as part of a community project

Registration for companies wishing to apply to be a one stop shop is now open. I expect the first one stop shops to be registered within the coming weeks. Homeowners can then make applications for upgrades. The call for projects under the Community Energy Grant scheme will be launched shortly.