Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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116. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of retrofits completed per scheme by post BER standard to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38227/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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117. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of retrofits completed per scheme by post BER standards, broken down by county, in tabular form, to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38228/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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118. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of retrofits completed per scheme by post BER standard, broken down by county, to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38229/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 116, 117 and 118 together.

The National Retrofit Plan sets out the Government's approach to achieving the Climate Action Plan targets of upgrading the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal level and installing 400,000 heat pumps to replace older, less efficient heating systems by 2030.

My Department funds a number of schemes to support households to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. SEAI administer these schemes on behalf of my Department. To promote and incentivise the achievement of these targets, in February 2022, the Government launched a package of significantly enhanced supports to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades.

The tables attached set out for the first half of 2023:

a breakdown of retrofits completed per scheme, by post BER standard; and

a breakdown of retrofits completed per scheme by post BER standards, broken down by county.

SEAI has published quarterly reports for the first two quarters of 2023 which are available on their website and provide detail in relation to the retrofits carried out under SEAI schemes in the first half of the year. A report for the third quarter will be published in October.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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119. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of fossil fuel boilers installed per scheme by post BER standard to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38230/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme delivers free energy upgrades for eligible homeowners in low-income households who are most at risk of energy poverty. The scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). To date in 2023, 3,434 homes were upgraded at an average cost of €24,000 per home.

The upgrades that will be recommended for a property will depend on many factors, including age, size, type and condition of the property. For each eligible home, SEAI’s technical surveyor will determine which upgrades can be installed and funded.

Heating systems upgrades are recommended under the schemes in cases where:

• There is no heating system in place, and the home is receiving an attic and/or wall measure,
• Where the existing heating system is obsolete and the home is receiving an attic and/or wall measure,
• Where statutory ‘Major Renovations’ obligations apply: A Major Renovation is triggered when more than 25% of the area of the building is being externally and/or internally insulated, then the existing heating system must be appraised for replacement. This is legally required under the Building Regulations, Part L 2019.
• It should be noted that the Warmer Homes Scheme is the only scheme administered by SEAI where installation of a new gas or oil heating system can be funded. To date in 2023, 861 homes have received heating system replacements. Of these, 822 were oil or gas boilers and 39 homes had heat pumps installed. A breakdown of these homes by post-works BER is not routinely supplied by the SEAI to my Department.
• In order to move the scheme away from the installation of gas or oil heating systems where these Building Regulations are triggered, and to provide more extensive upgrades with decarbonised heating systems under the scheme, the National Retrofit Plan included a commitment to carry out a pilot to upgrade homes under the scheme to a B2 standard and install heat pumps. This pilot is gathering evidence to inform the appropriate process and approach to increase the number of B2 upgrades and heat pumps installations delivered under this scheme.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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120. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the average wait to retrofit fit a home broken down by scheme and by post BER standard to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38237/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The National Retrofit Plan sets out the Government's approach to achieving the Climate Action Plan targets of upgrading the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal level and installing 400,000 heat pumps to replace older, less efficient heating systems by 2030.

My Department funds a number of grant schemes, administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. These include the fully funded Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme and a number of part-funded schemes - the Better Energy Homes Scheme, the Solar PV Scheme, the Community Energy Grant Scheme and the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme (NHEUS) which was established last year. This allows homeowners to choose the best home upgrade option to suit their particular needs.

• The Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme (WHS) delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to low-income households vulnerable to energy poverty. For home upgrades completed under this scheme in Quarter 2, 2023 the average cycle time from application to completion was approximately 19 months, this is a decrease from an average of 26 months for homes completed in 2022.
• The Better Energy Homes Scheme and Solar PV Scheme are demand-led schemes which require homeowners to procure their own contractor following grant approval from SEAI (this approval process is immediate once all requirements for the SEAI grant application portal are met by applicants). Works must be completed within an 8-month period, starting from the date of grant approval. Figures from SEAI show that under the Better Energy Homes Scheme the average cycle time for applications completed is 5.4 months. For the Solar PV Scheme, the cycle time is 4.9 months.
• Under the National Home Energy Home Upgrade Scheme and Community Energy Grant Scheme, homeowners engage a registered One Stop Shop or Project Co-ordinator, respectively, to manage the grant application process and oversee delivery of the retrofit on their behalf. Works must be completed under the Community Energy Grant scheme within 12 months. The average waiting time for the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme up to the end of Quarter 2 this year was 4.7 months.
• I wish to advise the Deputy that due to the extensive amount of administrative work required, it is not feasible to collate the average wait to retrofit fit a home broken down by scheme and by post BER standard.
• A more detailed overview of the Q2 2023 performance on the residential and community energy efficiency schemes is available at: SEAI-Retrofit-Quarterly-Report-Q2-2023.pdf.