Written Answers Nos. 151-165
154. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications what measures are being taken to reduce the current wait times, currently in excess of 20 months, on works completing from applications made on free energy upgrades under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55007/23]
View answerThe Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to households vulnerable to energy poverty. This year's budget of €148.5 million is the highest ever.
Increased awareness of the multiple benefits of retrofit and improvements to the Warmer Homes Scheme is driving increased levels of demand for the scheme with over 23,000 applications received over the period from January 2022 to end November 2023.
The Scheme is delivering deeper upgrades with more emissions reductions and energy savings for homeowners. The average cost of upgrades increased to €24,000 in 2023 and these deeper upgrades take a longer time per home to complete.
The average waiting time from application to completion for homes completed to date in 2023 was 20 months. This is a decrease from an average of 26 months for homes completed in 2022. The reduction in wait times follows a range of measures introduced by the Department and SEAI including enhanced budgets; increased staffing resources in SEAI; and actions to address supply chain challenges.
SEAI also established a new contractor panel in September this year, with expanded capacity.
To end November this year, over 5,300 homes have been upgraded. This is already more homes than were completed under the scheme in all of 2022 when a total of 4,438 homes were completed. SEAI is on target to upgrade 6,000 homes under the scheme by the end of this year.
My officials continue to work with the SEAI to maximise and accelerate the output of free energy upgrades delivered.
160. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications how many retrofits were carried out in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, per SEAI scheme; the post-BER ratings per SEAI scheme in 2020, 2021, 2022 and in to date 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55020/23]
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 BER B2/cost-optimal and installing 400,000 heat pumps to replace older, less efficient heating systems by 2030. To promote and incentivise the achievement of these targets, last year the Government approved a package of significantly enhanced supports to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades.
Following the introduction of the new measures, demand across the SEAI grant-supported schemes has been exceptionally high. The following figures from SEAI show the number of home energy upgrades since 2020:
• 2020: 17,546 home energy upgrades, of which 3,278 achieved a post works BER of B2 or better.
• 2021: 15,246 home energy upgrades, of which 4,345 achieved a post works BER of B2 or better.
• 2022: 27,199 home energy upgrades, of which 8,481 achieved a post works BER of B2 or better.
• 2023 to end November: 43,376 home energy upgrades, surpassing the full-year target figure of just over 37,000. The number of energy efficiency upgrades to a post-works BER of B2 or better at end of November stands at 15,753 versus the full-year target figure of 13,846.
A scheme level breakdown of the upgrades for the period 2020-2022 is available in the SEAI 2022 Annual Review, which can be found on the SEAI website at: SEAI-Retrofit-Annual-Report-2022.pdf. While the most Quarterly Progress Report for Quarter 3, 2023 can be found at: www.seai.ie/publications/SEAI-Retrofit-Quarterly-Report-Q3-2023.pdf
A breakdown of post-BER ratings per scheme in 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023 is not routinely supplied by the SEAI to my Department. I have directed SEAI to provide this data directly to the Deputy, in so far as it is available, as soon as possible.
161. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the workforce plan for climate action officers in local authorities; the total average cost for WTE per staffing level; if there are plans to recruit more; if any positions remain unfulfilled; if so, when he expects these positions will be filled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55021/23]
View answerLocal government has a key role to play in implementing measures to meet Ireland’s national climate targets. Local Authorities are well-placed to respond to climate change and build momentum as the most direct connection that citizens and local communities have with Government. Section 16 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 requires, inter alia, each Local Authority to prepare a Local Authority Climate Action Plan (LA CAP) specifying the mitigation and the adaptation measures to be adopted. In March 2023, I published statutory guidelines to assist Local Authorities in preparing their LA CAPs.
My Department authorised funding in 2022 to support the Local Authority Climate Action Plan process, including for the recruitment of specialist staff in each Local Authority to form the nucleus of climate action teams – a Climate Action Coordinator and Climate Action Officer. In 2022, a total of €3.2 million was paid to the sector to begin the implementation of Phase 1 of the LA CAPs. By November 2023, I understand that 30 Local Authorities had hired a Climate Action Coordinator and 26 Local Authorities had hired a Climate Action Officer. Recruitment and workforce planning for the supported climate posts are the responsibility of each Local Authority. A total of €5.5 million has been allocated to the sector in 2023 for Phase 2 to develop the Local Authority Climate Action Plans and my Department is now in the process of reviewing and processing eligible claims.
162. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the average cost for a renewable energy community to connect to the electricity grid. [55024/23]
View answerResponsibility for the arrangements for and cost of connecting to the electricity network, including for community energy projects, is a matter for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). The management of connections to the electricity grid are matters for ESB Networks and EirGrid, under rules determined by the CRU.
Grid connection costs are a major challenge for communities developing renewable energy projects. The regulatory framework grid connections for renewable community energy projects needs to be reviewed in order to develop a strong pipeline of community energy projects that is consistent with the Climate Action Plan target of 500 MW of community energy projects by 2030 and the supports to be provided for under the forthcoming Small Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme.
In May, the CRU launched a call for evidence on a new electricity generation connection policy with one of the aims being how to better facilitate mini generation, small-scale generation, and renewable energy communities. It is critical that the revised regulatory policy facilitates a sustainable and vibrant community renewable energy sector.
A ‘Community enabling grant’ of €180,000 is also available through SEAI for the purposes of supporting community owned renewable generation. These grants were designed to support community projects reach financial close, meet all the RESS milestones, and are available for community projects to use towards grid connections costs.
SEAI has also recently undertaken five grid studies on a county basis to support communities in identifying sites within their locality that are most likely to have an economically viable grid connection.
163. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the total funding allocated to the Irish Environment Network in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and in Budget 2024. [55026/23]
View answerThe Irish Environmental Network (IEN) is an independent umbrella organisation whose members are nationally active Irish Environmental NGOs. The group represents on a broad range of environmental issues relating to climate change.
I have included in the table below, the total funding allocated by my Department to the IEN for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 . Funding for the organisation has risen by 141% in this time. The IEN funding proposal for 2024 is currently being reviewed within my Department.
|
Irish Environmental Network Funding |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
€1,060,000 |
€1,764,000 |
€2,100,000 |
€2,550,000 |
