Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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203. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the average waiting time for the SEAI warmer homes scheme in each county, in tabular form; the reason for delays in the scheme. [7290/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Warmer Homes Scheme aims to improve the energy efficiency and warmth of homes owned by people in energy poverty by providing fully-funded retrofits. The scheme is operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on behalf of my Department and is funded through the carbon tax receipts and the European Regional Development Fund.

Last year saw a record spend of almost €230 million under the scheme. This resulted in 7,743 upgrades being provided to low-income households, a 31% increase on 2023. This year’s budget includes an allocation of €280 million for the Warmer Homes Scheme. This represents an 11-fold increase on the 2020 expenditure figure.

The scheme has been delivering a greater number of deeper and more complex upgrades in recent years. This is reflected in the average cost of upgrades which has increased from €2,600 in 2015 to over €27,700 in 2024. While these deeper retrofits take longer to complete, significant reductions in the average waiting time have still been achieved. The average waiting time reduced from 26 months in 2022 to 18 months for homes with the worst Building Energy Ratings of E, F and G in 2024. Waiting times are reflective of all applications and are not routinely collated on a per-county basis.

The reduction in waiting times follows a range of measures introduced by the Department and the SEAI including:

• The SEAI has been allocated additional staff for the Warmer Homes Scheme;
• There is significantly increased budget allocation;
• The SEAI work to increase contractor output through active contract engagement and management;
• Actions have been taken to address ongoing supply chain and inflationary pressures;
• The SEAI established a new €700 million contractor panel in September 2023, which is place for the next 4 years, adding 7 additional contractors bringing the total to 36.