Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 February 2025
84. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will report on the amount of funding for retrofitting as part of the revised NDP; if this remains unchanged as part of the new Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5221/25]
View answerFunding for retrofitting is a matter in the first instance for the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications (D/ECC).
D/ECC have provided my department with the following response:
The Climate Action Plan includes targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B2/cost optimal and the installation of 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems by end-2030. The National Retrofit Plan sets out how these targets will be achieved.
The National Development Plan and National Retrofit Plan committed €8 billion in capital funding to the end of the decade to support the achievement of these objectives. This amount will be supplemented by an additional €264 million which has been secured from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the period 2021-2027. This ERDF funding will be drawn down to support additional upgrades under the Warmer Homes Scheme in the coming years. During the period 2020-2024, the SEAI supported almost 162,000 energy upgrades. This has made homes warmer, healthier and more comfortable with lower emissions and lower bills.
D/ECC and the SEAI will build on this progress in 2025. This year, a record capital budget of almost €550 million has been allocated to support over 64,500 SEAI residential and community energy upgrades, including the Solar PV (photovoltaic) Scheme. The schemes offer grants for individuals who can afford to contribute to the cost of upgrades as well as free energy upgrades for people at risk of energy poverty. This allows homeowners to choose the best home upgrade option to suit their particular needs. The 2025 budget includes a €280 million allocation to the Warmer Homes Scheme to provide fully funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty. This represents an 11-fold increase over the spend on the scheme in 2020.
The new Programme for Government commits to a review of the National Development Plan and any revisions to the funding commitments for the National Retrofit Plan will be considered as part of that process. The SEAI's schemes are kept under ongoing review and will be informed by commitments in the Programme for Government.
