William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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153. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government for an update on the National Retrofit Plan, specifically regarding the targets of retrofitting 500,000 homes and installing 400,000 heat pumps by 2030; the steps being taken to accelerate these initiatives; the means by which his Department propose to address the projected shortfall in heat pump installations, which may not meet the 2042 target under current trends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60531/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Climate Action Plan sets out policies, measures and actions to be taken to achieve sectoral emissions ceilings for the residential sector. These measures include the retrofit of existing homes and installation of heat pumps to support the achievement of the required emissions reductions.

The National Retrofit Plan sets out the Government’s approach to delivering on these targets. The plan itself is built on four key pillars of demand, supply, financing and governance, with actions and initiatives flowing from each. A range of measures have been introduced under the plan in recent years to support the achievement of our targets, including:

- Enhanced Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) grant schemes with expanded eligibility, higher grants and simplified application processes, with grant support of up to €10,500 available for homeowners upgrading to a heat pump as part of a deep retrofit project under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme or Community Energy Grant Scheme.

- New finance measures to support affordability, such as the Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme, launched last year with new lenders joining in 2025, enabling homeowners to avail of retrofit loans with interest rates as low as 2.99%.

- A reduction in the VAT rate for heat pumps to 9% and a 0% rate for solar panels.

- Support for two SEAI heat pump pilot schemes, currently underway, aimed at informing the appropriate approach to increasing the number of heat pumps installations.

From 2019 to end September 2025, SEAI schemes provided over €1.5 billion in support to homeowners for over 228,000 home energy upgrades, including over 30,000 fully-funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty and over 17,100 heat pump installations. In addition, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has funded a further 14,300 Local Authority upgrades, including over 7,250 heat pumps.

Budget 2026 announced a record Exchequer funding allocation of €558 million from the carbon tax for SEAI residential and community energy upgrades, including the Solar PV Scheme. This is an €89 million increase on last year’s carbon tax allocation and means that more funding than ever will be available to make homes warmer, healthier, more comfortable and less expensive to heat. This allocation is expected to be further supplemented with additional funding, such as an allocation from the European Regional Development Fund.

Increasing the uptake of energy efficiency measures among homeowners continues to be a key priority for my Department working in partnership with the SEAI.