Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
120. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the average wait to retrofit fit a home broken down by scheme and by post BER standard to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38237/23]
View answerThe National Retrofit Plan sets out the Government's approach to achieving the Climate Action Plan targets of upgrading the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal level and installing 400,000 heat pumps to replace older, less efficient heating systems by 2030.
My Department funds a number of grant schemes, administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. These include the fully funded Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme and a number of part-funded schemes - the Better Energy Homes Scheme, the Solar PV Scheme, the Community Energy Grant Scheme and the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme (NHEUS) which was established last year. This allows homeowners to choose the best home upgrade option to suit their particular needs.
• The Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme (WHS) delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to low-income households vulnerable to energy poverty. For home upgrades completed under this scheme in Quarter 2, 2023 the average cycle time from application to completion was approximately 19 months, this is a decrease from an average of 26 months for homes completed in 2022.
• The Better Energy Homes Scheme and Solar PV Scheme are demand-led schemes which require homeowners to procure their own contractor following grant approval from SEAI (this approval process is immediate once all requirements for the SEAI grant application portal are met by applicants). Works must be completed within an 8-month period, starting from the date of grant approval. Figures from SEAI show that under the Better Energy Homes Scheme the average cycle time for applications completed is 5.4 months. For the Solar PV Scheme, the cycle time is 4.9 months.
• Under the National Home Energy Home Upgrade Scheme and Community Energy Grant Scheme, homeowners engage a registered One Stop Shop or Project Co-ordinator, respectively, to manage the grant application process and oversee delivery of the retrofit on their behalf. Works must be completed under the Community Energy Grant scheme within 12 months. The average waiting time for the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme up to the end of Quarter 2 this year was 4.7 months.
• I wish to advise the Deputy that due to the extensive amount of administrative work required, it is not feasible to collate the average wait to retrofit fit a home broken down by scheme and by post BER standard.
• A more detailed overview of the Q2 2023 performance on the residential and community energy efficiency schemes is available at: SEAI-Retrofit-Quarterly-Report-Q2-2023.pdf.
