Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1126.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated full cost of retrofitting all local authority owned homes by 2030 and the estimated average cost per home in 2025; the number to be carried out in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32510/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP) aims to retrofit a local authority home to a BER of B2/Cost Optimal Equivalent. It is expected that 36,500 local authority owned homes will be retrofitted under this programme out to 2030.

The programme has been devised in a way to give local authorities a level of flexibility when selecting properties to retrofit, ranging from those requiring minor levels of works to properties needing the maximum level of retrofitting required to bring them to a B2/Cost Optimal Equivalent standard. The actual cost of retrofitting works on each home will depend on its pre-works BER. Targets set and funding allocated to local authorities under this programme allow for local authorities to undertake a variety of house types, from those requiring minimal investment to those requiring major investment, in order to achieve the B2/Cost Optimal BER. Local authorities are asked to ensure that the average cost per home drawn down under the programme is circa €34,000, excluding project management fees. Adhering to this average will ensure that the maximum number of homes can be retrofitted with the available budget. For 2023, the average cost per property was circa €31,500.

Each year the target number of units and funding provided under the EERP are subject to the funding availability as part of the National Development Plan and annual Estimates process. The 2024 EERP budget provides an increase in funding support to €90 million to retrofit 2,500 properties. Local authorities have received their individual allocations and work is underway in that regard.

An annualised breakdown of the total funding provided and the number of properties upgraded under the Energy Efficiency Retrofit programme for the years 2013-2023 is available on my Department's website at the following link:

My Department also introduced a pilot Midlands Energy Retrofit Programme in 2020, the details of which are found below. A further 674 properties were retrofitted to a BER of B2/ Cost Optimal Equivalent and these figures are in addition to the National Retrofit Programme.

Work in relation to the 2024 programme is ongoing. Full details in relation to the 2024 Energy Efficiency Programme will be published on my Department’s website early in 2025.