Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if there are plans to establish a retrofit scheme specifically targeted at households reliant on solid fuel heating, in line with recommendations from the Climate Change Advisory Council and the Environmental Protection Agency; if any analysis or advice has been sought in designing such a scheme; if not, to outline the reasons for the absence of such analysis or advice; how this initiative would contribute to emissions reduction and air quality improvement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45453/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My Department funds a number of schemes administered by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support households and the community sector to improve the energy efficiency of their properties: individual energy upgrade grants under the Better Energy Homes Scheme; the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme for an end-to-end service through One Stop Shops and the Community Energy Grant scheme for energy efficiency upgrades as part of a community project. There are also fully funded upgrades for qualifying households under the Warmer Homes Scheme.

In recent years a range of measures have been put in place under the National Retrofit Plan including:

• Enhanced grant rates of up to €10,500 for heat pumps when a B2 energy rating is achieved;
• Amending the construction rule for grant support for heat pumps to include homes built and occupied before 2021.
• Changes to SEAI scheme rules to make the process of accessing heat pump grants easier for homeowners;
• Measures to expand the supply chain;
• An €8 billion budget allocation to support retrofit and heat pump installations to 2030; and
• A focus on installing heat pumps within the Local Authority Retrofit Programme.

Data from SEAI shows that since 2019, almost 171,000 property upgrades have been supported. Of these, over 13,000 have installed a heat pump, mostly under the SEAI part-funded, demand-led schemes. In addition, data from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage shows that an additional 4,863 heat pumps were installed under its Local Authority Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme in the period 2021-2023. Last year’s total of almost 6,000 heat pumps represents a 44% increase on 2022 and a 430% increase on the number installed in 2019.

There are no current plans to establish a retrofit scheme specifically targeted at households reliant on solid fuel heating. However, increasing the uptake of heat pumps among homeowners is a top priority of my Department and as such, further policies and measures will be introduced on an annual basis in order to support the achievement of these targets.

Budget 2025 includes record funding of €469 million, from the Carbon Tax, for SEAI residential and community energy upgrades, including the Solar PV scheme. This is an €89 million increase on 2024 and means that more funding than ever will be available to make homes warmer, healthier, more comfortable and less expensive to heat.