Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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69. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his Department has considered the use of additional methodologies to measure energy deprivation and vulnerability to energy poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6127/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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On 13 December Government approved a new Energy Poverty Action Plan. The Plan is available on gov.ie and sets out the range of measures being implemented this winter, as well as key longer-term measures, to ensure that those least able to afford increased energy costs are supported and protected to adequately heat and power their homes.

Effective ways of defining, measuring and tracking energy poverty are essential for designing sound policy responses. Chapter 3 of the Plan sets out the challenges in doing this. Currently, the measurement of energy poverty in Ireland used by the ESRI is based on the level of expenditure on energy in a household. Households spending above 10% of total income on their energy needs (excluding energy for transport) are counted in the current measurement of energy poverty. Using this metric the ESRI estimated that the share of households that could be at risk of energy poverty had risen to 29.4% in 2022. However, this measurement does not account for the energy efficiency of a home and is unable to identify households with the largest burden after increases in energy prices. It also does not capture levels of energy deprivation, which is where people are not spending money on energy in the first place because they can't afford it.

In response, as set out in the plan, as part of the ESRI’s research programme, Government is providing funding to examine whether existing supports are well-targeted towards those who are at risk of energy poverty and the impact of those supports on the level of energy poverty. As part of this research the ESRI will:

- propose a metric for measuring energy poverty that combines expenditure and energy efficiency;

- propose metrics to measure changes in the trend of fuel poverty regarding the number of households and its severity;

The implementation of the new Action Plan is being monitored by a cross-departmental Steering Group, chaired by my department.