Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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206. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the introduction of a scrappage scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25491/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Climate Action Plan set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector from 7 Mt CO2 eq. in 2018 to between 3.5-4.5 Mt CO2 eq. in 2030. The Plan sets out that the Building Regulations will effectively ban the installation of fossil fuel boilers in new homes by the end of 2023 For existing homes the Programme for Government and Climate Action Plan set ambitious targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000  homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal or carbon equivalent and the installation of 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems by end-2030.  This represents approximately 30% of the housing stock and is among the most ambitious retrofit programmes worldwide.

As part of the implementation of the Climate Action Plan and National Retrofit Plan, the Government recently announced 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 and lower emissions. 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 heat pump.

The grants which have been made available aim to maximise emissions reductions and deliver energy savings for the widest range of homeowners possible. The grants focus on first reducing energy demand and then switching to electric heating with a heat pump. The grants which are available, and their respective eligibility criteria, were selected as the most likely to deliver significant energy savings to homeowners as well as the best value for money for the Exchequer

The grant supports will be kept under review taking account of: the overarching need to build a much bigger home upgrade sector; evolving science; innovation; evolving technology and other relevant factors. There are no plans to introduce a scheme to support the installation of new condensing boilers in homes.