Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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148. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment whether there are proposals to increase funding for SEAI in relation to the roll out of the community grants scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27363/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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My Department funds a number of grant schemes administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support homeowners, business and communities improve the energy efficiency of their buildings, and to promote the adoption of renewable energy systems. These schemes include grants for the fabric upgrade of buildings (e.g. insulation) as well as solar PV and heat pump installations.

The Community Energy Grant (CEG) Scheme supports cross-sectoral, partnership approaches that deliver energy savings to a range of building types, including public, commercial and community buildings with a particular focus on using the projects to deliver home retrofits, encompassing energy-poor, private, rental, and approved housing body homes.

A number of changes to CEG Scheme Guidelines were introduced last year, aimed at enhancing the scheme including:

• A new domestic only strand to increase the delivery of home retrofits through scheme
• Introduction of enhanced supports for the retrofit of Multi-Unit Developments aimed at addressing some of the key barriers to upgrading flat and apartment buildings
• The roll out of a pilot strand for area-based retrofit projects where CEG Project Coordinators, Local Authorities and local Energy Agencies will collaborate together to encourage homeowners, regardless of requirements or means, to get a retrofit, with the objective of leaving no home behind
• Introduction of 18-month contracts for some larger, more complex non-domestic projects

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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149. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he is aware that providers appear to be applying different criteria in the administration of the SEAI medically vulnerable solar PV scheme; his views on whether this is acceptable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27364/25]

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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150. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason a company (details supplied) is excluding persons who meet the criteria for the SEAI medically vulnerable solar PV scheme where such persons were eligible in 2022 but joined the list after 2022; his views on whether this is acceptable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27365/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 and 150 together.

The Solar PV for the Medically Vulnerable Scheme is a targeted scheme for installing solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for customers/households registered on the life support category of the Priority Services Register. These homes have a dependence on electrically powered equipment, including medical equipment, life protecting devices and assistive technologies for example dialysis machines, respirators, etc. As such, these households may have a higher energy demand than the average user and this scheme is designed to go some way towards helping to reduce those energy costs.

The Solar PV for the Medically Vulnerable scheme was designed in 2022 and is operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) in conjunction with Energy Suppliers. Each Energy Supplier is responsible for contacting their own eligible customers directly, in line with the specific work plans for their Solar PV Installers. The scheme is currently focused on the approximately 4,000 households who were on the Priority Register in November 2022, when the budget was agreed and allocated.

Given eligible households are spread across a number of Energy Suppliers, some of whom were delayed in establishing their programmes; this has resulted in certain Energy Suppliers being more advanced in their programme than others. The Energy Supplier referred to by the Deputy was the first to offer this scheme to their customers and is well advanced in their programme.

SEAI report that 137 systems were installed in 2024, but with the programme now ramping up, over 160 systems have been installed in the first two months of 2025, and it is estimated that over 1,440 will be installed by the end of 2025.

If the Deputy can provide further details of how Energy Suppliers are applying different criteria in the administration of this scheme, I will arrange for my officials to investigate further and provide an update.