Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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82. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the measures being taken to accelerate retrofitting supports for households in Kildare north; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64187/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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93. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will outline progress towards the 2030 national retrofit target of 500,000 homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64290/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 93 together.

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.

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 under the Warmer Homes Scheme 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.

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,

- 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 reformed Warmer Homes Scheme with expanded eligibility, increased depth of retrofit, a prioritisation of the worst performing homes and a higher number of homes supported,

- The establishment of a network of 26 SEAI registered One Stop Shops with further growth in the network expected before the end of the year,

- Enhanced supports for retrofitting apartment buildings and flat complexes,

- New supports for area-based retrofit projects for mixed-ownership estates aimed at encouraging homeowners, regardless of requirements or means, to get a retrofit.

At community level, the Government is fully supportive of community initiatives that encourage wider adoption of energy efficiency measures and heat pumps, for example the Government provides 100% funding to SECs to undertake Energy Master Plans (EMPs) and provides support through the Community Energy Grant (CEG) Scheme, to help progress identified projects.

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

The Deputy might wish to note that SEAI handle operational matters for the schemes and can supply county level data on request. SEAI has established a specific email address for queries from Oireachtas members so that such queries can be addressed promptly and in line with the SEAI’s objective to deliver services to the highest standards. The email address is oireachtas@seai.ie.