Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2015
559. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the measures he is taking to provide and promote energy-efficient housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3886/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraGeneral responsibility for the promotion of energy efficiency rests with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, who has published Ireland's Second National Energy Efficiency Plan. The plan details the broad range of measures in place or being planned by a range of departments and agencies with a view to improving energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy. Specific responsibilities within the remit of my Department in this regard include setting energy performance standards under the Building Regulations and promoting energy efficiency in social housing.
Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings requires EU Member States to ensure that all new buildings will be nearly zero-energy by 31 December 2020. The Directive broadly defines a ‘nearly zero-energy building’ as a building with a high energy performance where the very low amount of energy required should, to a very significant extent, be met by energy from renewable sources, including renewable energy produced on site or nearby.
Against this background, Ireland has been making significant progress in terms of both improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide emissions within the built environment. Taking the energy efficiency requirements established in 2005 as the benchmark, the Building Regulations (Part L Amendment) Regulations 2007 set the requirements necessary to achieve a 40% improvement (over the 2005 standards) in the energy and carbon performance of new dwellings. The requirements were subsequently upgraded under the Building Regulations (Part L Amendment) Regulations 2011 which has delivered a 60% aggregate improvement (relative to 2005 standards) in both the energy and carbon performance of new dwellings. One further upgrade of the Part L requirement is envisaged in order to ensure that Ireland meets our 'nearly zero energy' obligation by 2020. A comprehensive public consultation process and a rigorous regulatory impact assessment will be undertaken before such changes are finalised.
My Department also continues to pursue an ongoing programme of investment in improving the energy efficiency of the existing stock of social housing owned by local authorities and has published the best practice design guidelines Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities which, among other things, promote higher standards of energy efficiency in new social housing. Local authorities are undertaking an ambitious programme of insulation retrofitting, with the support of my Department, on the least energy efficient social houses over a three-year period. Funding of €50 million is being provided over the period 2013-2015 for improving the energy performance of older local authority housing stock. This programme will improve energy efficiency and comfort levels, and therefore BER ratings, in 25,000 local authority homes.
