Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 November 2022
166. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications when the low-interest loans to enable homes to retrofit will be available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55663/22]
View answerMy Department is working with the Department of Finance, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland and the European Investment Bank to develop a residential retrofit loan guarantee scheme. The scheme is part of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan and will be co-funded by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility and Exchequer funding. It will also be backed by a counter guarantee provided by the EIB. The loan guarantee will provide risk protection to retail credit institutions participating in the scheme. This will enable credit institutions to offer loans with reduced interest rates to private homeowners and non-corporate landlords and make comprehensive home energy efficiency upgrades more affordable to consumers. This approach will signal to the banking sector, new sustainable business opportunities associated with retrofit and the transition to a low carbon economy as well as increasing the volume of retrofit activity within the State. It is anticipated that the Scheme will provide a lending portfolio of up to €500 million.
Significant progress has been made to date with the "Invitation for Pre-Qualification Stage" to identify interested 'On-Lenders' concluded and the "Invitation for Award Stage" underway. The latter is an important milestone in the development of the scheme as it will determine how much of the guaranteed loan portfolio will be allocated to each 'On-Lender'. It will also set out the interest rate pricing approach under the scheme. It is expected that the loans under the guarantee will be available early next year.
