Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 February 2021
124. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if advice and assistance will be provided in relation to a matter raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10687/21]
View answer125. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to provide a retrofitting programme for sections 38 and 39 residential housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10695/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 125 together.
The Energy Efficiency Programme for 2021 will be the first year of a newly revised ten year programme designed to help deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to retrofitting 500,000 homes by 2030 to a B2/cost optimal BER standard. It is expected that approximately 36,500 of those will be local authority owned homes.
The 2021 programme has a budget of €65m and will target the retrofit of 2,400 local authority owned homes, 750 of which relate to the Midlands retrofit Pilot launched in 2020.
Homes owned by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are not part of the local authority owned housing stock and therefore are not eligible to apply for funding under a budget dedicated to the retrofit of local authority owned homes. Alternative options are available to AHBs and the properties may be eligible for support for upgrade works under the National Home Retrofit Scheme and the Community Energy Grants scheme which are administered by SEAI. Under these schemes the budget allocated by Government amounts to €51.5m in 2021.
The National Home Retrofit scheme is suitable for One-Stop-Shops, Residential Service Providers, Employers, Financial Institutions, registered Housing Associations and Local Authorities who wish to participate in delivering energy efficiency upgrades to homes. Further information is available here: https://www.seai.ie/grants/national-home-retrofit/.
The Community Energy Grants Scheme funds community based partnerships to improve the energy efficiency of the building stock in their area – homes, including those at risk of energy poverty, community facilities and businesses. These partnerships can be between the public and private sectors, domestic and non-domestic sectors, commercial and not-for-profit organisations and energy suppliers. Further information is available here: https://www.seai.ie/grants/community-grants/.
