Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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91. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment for an update on the funding streams that are available for geothermal heating schemes, including the amount that has been drawn down to date in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27705/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) manage a number of residential and community energy upgrade grant support schemes on behalf of my Department.

Grant support of up to €6,500 is available to install heat pumps under the Better Energy Home Scheme, and up to €10,500 under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme or the Community Energy Grant Scheme.

SEAI has advised, to end of May 2024, grant support was provided for 1,469 heat pump installations. Of the heat pump installations supported by SEAI to date this year, €208,000 in grant support was provided to homeowners in respect of 28 ground-source-to-water heat pump systems and 4 water-to-water systems.

An installation grant of up to 40% for investment in renewable heating systems using ground source heat pumps is also available through the SEAI’s Support Scheme for Renewable Heat, which provides financial support to help businesses move to renewable heating.

While the SEAI doesn’t provide dedicated funding for geothermal heating schemes, it does fund related research, including an assessment of the viability of retrofitting an existing communal heating system at Carlinn Hall, Dundalk, County Louth, with a shallow geothermal heat pump system. The report on the research, which was published in November 2023, contains recommendations in relation to heat network efficiency and options for low-carbon heat alternatives, including costs of installation and operation. The scheme in question is privately owned and managed, and implementation of any of the recommendations would be a matter for the relevant parties to decide upon.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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92. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if there are plans in place to reduce the wait time for free energy upgrades (the warmer homes scheme); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27598/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In recent years, the Warmer Homes Scheme has delivered a greater volume of deeper and more complex upgrades. This is reflected in the average cost of upgrades which have seen an almost tenfold increase from €2,600 in 2015 to just over €25,800 in 2024.

These deeper upgrades mean that more lower income homeowners are benefitting significantly from warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills and reduced emissions. However, it is important to acknowledge that deeper retrofits take longer to complete.

This improvement in the upgrades provided under the scheme in tandem with increased awareness of the multiple benefits of retrofit are driving significantly increased levels of demand. Approximately 24,000 applications from homeowners were received in 2022 and 2023 combined.

For homes completed in 2023, the average waiting time from application to completion was 20 months. This is a reduction from 26 months for homes completed in 2022.

A range of measures introduced by my Department and SEAI contributed to the reduction in waiting times, including:

• significantly increased budgets and budget certainty with a record spend of €158 million in 2023 and an allocation of almost €210 million in place for 2024;
• increased staffing resources in SEAI; and
• actions to address supply chain challenges.
• SEAI also established a new contractor panel in September 2023, which increased the number of contractors operating under the scheme.
• This scheme is a top priority for me and the Government. My officials continue to work with the SEAI to maximise and accelerate the output of free energy upgrades provided under this important scheme.