Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
141. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he could provide an update on the retrofitting schemes; and provide a detailed timeline of how the 2030 target of 500,000 retrofitted homes will be met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73222/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra143. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the number of homes which have been deep retrofitted in each of the past ten years, and to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71619/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra290. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to provide a breakdown, per county, of the number of households that have participated in the Government's retrofitting scheme broken down by programme in each of the years 2020 to 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73656/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 141, 143 and 290 together.
The Climate Action Plan sets out policies, measures and actions to be taken to achieve sectoral emissions ceilings for the residential sector. These measures include the retrofit of existing homes and installation of heat pumps to support the achievement of the required emissions reductions.
The National Retrofit Plan sets out the Government’s approach to delivering on these targets. The plan itself is built on four key pillars of demand, supply, financing and governance, with actions and initiatives flowing from each.
A range of measures has been introduced under the National Retrofit Plan across recent years to support continued growth, including simplifying application processes, expanding eligibility, prioritising worst performing homes, expanding deep retrofits, growing the numbers of One Stop Shops, as well as progressing projects piloting new supports.
The measures introduced are translating into delivery. SEAI data show that in the ten years since 2015 almost 274,000 home energy upgrades were supported and, of these, almost 60,500 were to a BER B2 or better energy efficiency rating, representing sustained and significant increases each year. This is despite the significant interruption across most of 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding 2025, data from SEAI to end November show the number of home energy upgrades at 52,416 of which 23,304 were to a BER rating of B2 or higher.
Budget 2026 announced a record Exchequer funding allocation of €558 million from the carbon tax for SEAI residential and community energy upgrades, including the Solar PV Scheme. This is an €89 million increase on last year’s carbon tax allocation and means that more funding than ever will be available to make homes warmer, healthier and less expensive to heat.
Increasing the uptake of energy efficiency measures among homeowners continues to be a key priority for my Department working in partnership with the SEAI. Further policies and measures will be introduced on an annual basis to support the achievement of our retrofit and heat pump targets.
The most recently published statistics for SEAI residential and community energy retrofit programmes by scheme, county, measure type, and more can be found on the SEAI website at: www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/home-upgrades
