Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 169 together.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) manage a number of residential and community energy upgrade grant support schemes on behalf of my Department. A record capital budget of approximately €430 million for SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes (including Solar PV scheme) has been allocated for 2024. The overall allocation will mean that the progress made in recent years under the National Retrofit Plan will be further built on in 2024.

Grant support of up to €6,500 is available for the installation of air to water heat pumps as a standalone measure under the Better Energy Home Scheme. For homeowners undertaking a deep retrofit with a heat pump under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme or the Community Energy Grant Scheme, grant support of up to €10,500 is available. Full details on the range of SEAI supports available can be found at www.seai.ie.

The latest figures from SEAI (see table below) show that in the first quarter of 2024 there has been a total of 806 heat pump installations supported under the SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes. This equates to a 3% increase on the same period in 2023.

Table: Heat Pump Installations supported by SEAI - Quarter 1, 2024:

A more detailed overview of the SEAI performance against annual targets on the residential and community energy efficiency schemes can be found in their published quarterly reports, which can be found on the SEAI website at: www.seai.ie/publications. The report for Quarter 1, 2024 is expected to be published shortly.