Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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74.To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the current wait time for the SEAI better energy warmer homes scheme first stage and the BER assessment stage, in 2024; the measures being taken to reduce the waiting time; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[33830/24]

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 approximately €25,806 in 2024.

These deeper upgrades mean that more lower income homeowners are benefitting significantly from free upgrades providing warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills and reduced emissions. However, 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.

For homes completed in 2023, the average waiting time from application to completion was 20 months. This is a reduction from 27 months for homes completed in 2022. The SEAI indicates that the average timeframe for BER assessments is 12 months, though this can vary.

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 spend of €158 million in 2023 and a record budget allocation of almost €210m in 2024 including funding from the European Regional Development Fund;
• Increased staffing resources in SEAI;
• Actions to address supply chain challenges;
• SEAI established a new contractor panel in September 2023, which increased the number of contractors operating under the scheme; and
• Homes with the lowest energy ratings (E, F, G) are now prioritised for works.