Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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173. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if there have been any changes in the administration of SEAI grants for solar PV as part of Budget 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48349/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 and 173 together.

The Solar PV grant scheme under the Micro-generation Support Scheme (MSS) is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. The scheme came into operation in February 2022 and built on the success of the previous pilot version of the grant scheme.

In 2022, the SEAI received 16,819 applications to the Domestic Solar PV programme, which resulted in grant support for 10,018 homes, at a cost of €24.4m and a total installed capacity of 46.5 MW. This indicates an average installation size of 4.6kW. This is a significant increase from 2021 when 4,077 homes received grant support, with 16.3 MW capacity installed. Moreover, current projections indicate a record level of applications will be supported this year.

There have been no adjustments to the administration of the domestic solar PV grant announced as part of Budget 2024. However a planned mid-scheme review of the MSS is currently underway, which will assess the effectiveness of both the eligibility criteria and grant amounts, in line with the intentions set out in the MSS final scheme design.

The high interest levels being seen suggest that the current design of the MSS is working well. However the scheme’s operation will be kept under review by my Department in conjunction with the SEAI.

In relation to building eligibility, homes built during or after 2021 are not currently eligible for the Domestic Solar PV grant. The construction of these homes followed Part L of the Building Regulations, which relates to the energy performance of buildings requirements. There are options to meet this requirement under the standard by including heat pumps and/or Solar PV, with the cost of installing Solar PV systems during the new build process significantly lower than for existing homes. Consequently, houses built since 2021 already enjoy significantly higher energy performance and resultant energy efficiency, compared with older houses.

Solar grant eligibility criteria will be kept under review, and changes to the MSS scheme will be made when necessary. One such review and adjustment was approved on July 4th of this year, when Government approved amendments to the existing Non-Domestic Microgeneration Scheme, operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), to significantly expand the grant support available for business and other non-domestic PV installations. Additionally, on 1 May 2023, the rate of VAT for solar PV installation in private dwellings as part of a supply and install contract was dropped to zero.