Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
98. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he plans to introduce a scheme for an area wide scheme of energy improvement during the course of 2022; if areas will be selected starting with older estates in which BER values are lower; and the measures that are under consideration to encourage persons to participate. [47551/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for Government and the Climate Action Plan set ambitious targets to retrofit 500,000 homes to a Building Energy Rating of B2 or cost optimal and to install 400,000 heat pumps in existing buildings over the next 10 years.
This year, some €221.5 million in capital funding has been provided for SEAI residential and community retrofit programmes, including the Solar PV scheme and the Building Energy Rating programme. This represents an 82% increase on the 2020 allocation and is the largest amount ever for the schemes.
A new National Retrofit Plan will be published in Quarter 4 2021. The Plan is designed to address barriers to energy efficiency investments in four key areas: customer proposition and demand generation, financing and affordability, supplier capacity, and governance.
The Plan will seek to incorporate new approaches including the testing of Community based social marketing in communities with the highest retrofit potential. Coordinated activities will be conducted to generate demand and help to convert as much demand as possible into completed retrofit activity.
Building on the One Stop Shop Development Call pilot 2021, the new National Retrofit Scheme (One Stop Shop Service) will launch in Quarter 4 2021. The new Scheme will support home retrofit on a larger, aggregated scale through the development of a network of one-stop-shops which will offer homeowners, all the services required for a complete home energy upgrade to a BER B2 level.
The new Scheme, similar to the One Stop Shop Development Call pilot 2021, will deliver aggregated projects including area-based approaches where appropriate. This year the One Stop Shop Development Call has supported 13 projects, involving the upgrade of 575 housing units - primarily approved housing body dwellings - in specific estates or a targeted area.
