Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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226. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if funds are available for local authorities from his Department to refurbish social housing units, specifically to install double glazed windows in housing units such as Emmet Building, Dublin 8, in response to ongoing concerns over mould and damp and also as measures to reduce energy consumption and emissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7280/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department launched the Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Programme (EERP) in 2013 with the aim of funding retrofit of social homes requiring insulation and energy upgrade works. Since the programme commenced in 2013, over 77,500 local authority social housing dwellings have been retrofitted with a total exchequer spend of over €251 million.

In 2021 a new holistic approach was applied to the programme, designed around the Programme for Government's commitment led by the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications that calls for the 'retrofit' of 500,000 homes to a B2/Cost Optimal Equivalent (BER) standard by 2030, of which, approximately 36,500 are expected to be local authority owned homes, with grant funding provided by my Department for those local authority housing retrofits.

Works eligible under my Department's revised EERP include attic/cavity wall insulation or external wall insulation where required, windows and doors replacement, heat pump installation and ancillary and associated works.

The 2023 EERP budget provides an increase in funding support from €85 million allocated in 2022 to €87 million in 2023 which will allow approximately 2,400 local authority owned social homes to be upgraded to a B2 or cost optimal equivalent (BER). With regard to the local authority properties which are selected to be retrofitted through funding available from the EERP, the selection of properties is a matter for each individual local authority.

In addition to the funding provided by my Department for energy efficiency upgrades, local authorities can and do in many cases carry out upgrades to homes within their housing stock using their own resources, in line with their legal obligations to manage and maintain their housing stock. In this regard, the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966.

Local authorities also have a legal obligation to ensure that all of their tenanted properties are compliant with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 2019. These Regulations specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, dampness, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light, fire safety and the safety of gas, oil and electrical supplies.