Written Answers Nos. 25-36
25. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications when agreement will be reached between his Department and the SEAI (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10925/24]
View answerHomeowners eligible for works under the Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) scheme may apply for energy upgrade grants administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Homeowners’ whose applications are in line with the existing SEAI Scheme criteria and guidelines can access SEAI grants in line with the usual application processes that apply. Further information in that regard is available at Energy Efficient Homes - Home Energy Upgrades And Grants | SEAI.
My Department and SEAI are aware however of the particular issues arising for DCB homeowners that do not currently comply with the SEAI scheme terms and conditions. Examples of such situations include homeowners that previously received SEAI grant support to upgrade a home which now needs to be demolished due to defective concrete block and wish to avail of further SEAI grant supports.
The Department is working with SEAI to develop an approach to address these matters. SEAI submitted its most recent proposals to the Department at the end of January regarding how such applications can be managed as seamlessly as possible. The Department is actively engaging with SEAI in relation to the proposals which are expected to be finalised in the coming weeks.
SEAI continues to engage directly with impacted homeowners on a case by case basis to discuss their particular circumstances. A specific page on the SEAI website provides further information for DCB affected homeowners (Defective Concrete Blocks Affected Homeowners | Individual Energy Upgrades | SEAI). Homeowners can also contact the SEAI at a dedicated DCB phone number 01-8082004 or by email at dcb@seai.ie.
26. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the percentage of the National Just Transition Fund that has been allocated to applicants since its inception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10866/24]
View answerThe National Just Transition Fund was established in 2020 as a key pillar of the Government’s plan for the Midlands region, following the cessation of commercial peat extraction by Bord na Móna. The Fund continues to support local and community-led projects, which are creating sustainable businesses, employment opportunities and reskilling workers to engage with the green economy, and implementing innovative plans to support the transition to a low carbon economy across a range of activities.
Up to €22 .1 million has been allocated under the Fund in individual grant agreements with projects. To date, €8.5 million, or 38.5% of the available funding, has been drawn down by projects.
While grantees are directly responsible for the implementation of their projects and for drawing down their allocated funding, my officials continue to engage with grantees to support project delivery. Projections provided by grantees to my Department indicate that drawdowns are expected to increase as projects reach completion during 2024.
27. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications what financial supports a person can avail of if they are about to begin renovating an older rural property (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10875/24]
View answerMy 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.
The National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme is available for homeowners wishing to avail of the complete home energy upgrade service provided through the one stop shops; the Community Energy Grant is available for homeowners seeking to carry out their deep retrofit as part of a community project; and the Better Energy Homes Scheme facilitates homeowners wishing to undertake home energy upgrades through a step-by-step approach. The Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme delivers free energy efficiency improvements to the homes of people who are vulnerable to energy poverty who are in receipt of certain Department of Social Protection administered welfare payments. The range of schemes available allows homeowners to choose the best home upgrade option to suit their particular needs.
Homeowners can contact SEAI directly by phone at 01 808 2100 or by email info@seai.ie to learn more about the schemes and what they can apply for. This information can also be found on SEAI’S website: www.seai.ie/home-energy/home-upgrades/.
28. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if an Eircode will be reinstated to a house in County Kerry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10898/24]
View answerEircodes are assigned to property addresses using a valid postal address and verified geo-locations. All postal addresses, geographical addresses and geo-locations are provided to Eircode from authoritative sources, namely An Post and Tailte Éireann (Formerly Ordnance Survey Ireland) through their subsidiary company An Post GeoDirectory. An Post collects information on all new and existing buildings, as well as changes to existing addresses, and Tailte Éireann provides the geo-locations for these buildings.
My officials made further enquires with An Post and have been advised that as the building in question is listed as derelict in the postal address database, An Post have deactivated the verified postal address. Householders who have queries or issues relating to the postal address of their property can simply contact An Post by email at: eircode@anpost.ie or Customer Service on 01 - 705 7600. In the case where An Post makes changes to the address, the updated address information will be provided to Eircode by An Post GeoDirectory.
Operational matters for An Post are a matter for the Management and Board of An Post and not one in which I, as Minister, have a statutory function.
31. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications when the new low-cost home energy loan scheme will be in operation; the expected timescale for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10909/24]
View answerIn order to assist with the achievement of our retrofit targets, the Programme for Government, Climate Action Plan and the National Retrofit Plan committed to the introduction of a new residential retrofit low-cost loan scheme.
The Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme was developed by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Finance, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund. An agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group underpinning the new Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme was announced in October 2023.
The €500 million scheme is the first of its kind for both Ireland and the EIB. Homeowners will be able to borrow from €5,000 to €75,000 on an unsecured basis for a term of up to 10 years. The interest rates will be significantly lower than those currently available on the market as a result of the combination of the EIB Group loan guarantee and a Government-funded interest rate subsidy.
The Home Energy Upgrade loans will help reduce the financial challenges for many homeowners and will play a crucial role in helping homeowners to invest in energy efficiency, making their homes warmer, cheaper to run and helping to lower emissions. It will also signal to the banking sector, new sustainable business opportunities associated with retrofit and the transition to a low carbon economy.
It is anticipated that the loans will be available in the coming weeks through participating retail lenders.
32. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to clarify the number of redundancies, or so called ‘exit-packages’, that have been paid to staff or personnel at any level of seniority in his Department, or in any agency or body under the aegis of his Department, from 2018 to date; the value of each and the total value, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10984/24]
View answer33. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of exit and or severance and or redundancy packages granted by his Department, and bodies under his aegis, and of bodies he funds in full or in part, of €200,000 and above in the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024; and if he will provide the amount of same, body, name and year. [11013/24]
View answer35. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to list all staff/management exit packages for staff/management in their Departments that they sanctioned since 2016 (details supplied). [11158/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 33 and 35 together.
Redundancy or severance payments in the Civil Service generally arise with respect to specific categories of employees, as determined by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (DPENDR) and approved by Government.
My Department had no payments in 2016 or 2017. In the period since 2018, the total amount paid by my Department in this regard was €325,357.27 in respect of severance payments and €23,136 in respect of redundancy payments. These amounts have been aggregated in order not to identify the amounts paid to any individual person.
The information requested in relation to the agencies under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for each agency. The Department will request the relevant bodies to reply directly to the Deputy with the information requested in respect of their organisations.
|
Year |
Number of Severance Payments |
Number of Redundancy payments |
|
2018 |
4 |
0 |
|
2019 |
0 |
0 |
|
2020 |
3 |
2 |
|
2021 |
0 |
0 |
|
2022 |
0 |
0 |
|
2023 |
1 |
0 |
34. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications further to Parliamentary Question No.123 of 25 January 2024, the status of plans for the Government to endorse the call for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11119/24]
View answerI continue to keep the issue of a possible Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty under review.
I remain of the view that our reliance on fossil fuels is incompatible with the Paris Agreement and a climate neutral future, and we continue to follow the progress and development of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Simultaneously, we are acting both domestically and internationally to tackle our reliance on fossil fuels. Following the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund divested from fossil fuel companies and holds a list of companies in which it will not invest. Ireland has also ended the issuing of new exploration licences for fossil fuels and will manage existing authorisations towards a natural conclusion, through expiration, relinquishment, or production.
International collaboration is key to achieving the widespread, transformative change needed to tackle climate change. At COP26, Ireland joined the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) because of our determination to shift the global relationship with nature from a place of extraction to rehabilitation.
This commitment was demonstrated further at COP27 when Ireland joined the Global Offshore Wind Alliance to create a global driving force for the uptake of offshore wind through political mobilisation and the creation of a global community of practice.
At COP28, Ireland continued its advocacy on this issue and for the first time a COP decision recognised the need to transition away from fossil fuels. I participated in a number of BOGA events and attended a High-Level Dialogue on International Cooperation for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as other related meetings.
Following COP28, and since my response to Parliamentary Question No.123 of 25 January 2024, I have continued to work multilaterally to progress the phase-out of fossil fuels. In February, I co-chaired the IEA’s 2024 Ministerial Meeting and 50th Anniversary, a two-day event that produced strong engagement to safeguard energy security while stepping up clean energy transitions to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C within reach. The meeting delivered a powerful consensus on the need for bolder action and greater global cooperation to swiftly transform the world’s energy system, with geopolitical uncertainty on the rise and global temperatures continuing to break records.
At this Ministerial meeting, the IEA was mandated to take a leading role in removing barriers to clean energy transitions, and to track and report on the implementation of COP28's major energy outcomes, including the global 2030 targets of tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency progress, reducing methane emissions, and accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels.
36. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if a tax is to be brought in for tipping soil in landfill/tips in all parts of Ireland; if so, when is this proposed to commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11179/24]
View answerA levy on the disposal of waste at municipal landfills, currently €85 per tonne, has been in place for over two decades. The purpose of this landfill levy is to divert usable material away from landfill, promoting improved segregation of waste at elevated levels of the waste hierarchy, with disposal being the least desirable outcome.
My department has recently commissioned a study to examine the continued relevance of existing exemptions to the landfill levy. The overriding objective of the review is to improve our waste performance and reduce our circularity gap.
Furthermore, as committed to in the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, my department introduced a new waste recovery levy on the 1st September 2023 at a rate of €10 per tonne for recovery activities at waste to energy plants, co-incineration plants and the export of MSW for onward recovery. The exemptions to this waste recovery levy are also currently subject to review, to promote a circular economy, with the exemption for construction and demolition waste to be removed this year.
37. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will address a matter in relation to postmasters (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11180/24]
View answer
