We are close.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I thank the Deputy for his question. The programme for Government commits to using the carbon tax as a key tool to encourage a shift away from fossil fuels and to invest in a sustainable future. There are three areas within my Department that received funding from carbon tax revenue in the most recent budget. First, in the residential and community retrofit area, the budget allocation for 2026 is a record €641 million, including €558 million from the carbon tax. This will support over 73,000 home energy upgrades, including solar PV. This target also includes 11,500 fully funded home energy upgrades under the warmer homes scheme for households at risk of energy poverty. A record €340 million budget has been provided for this scheme for 2026. There has been significant investment and year-on-year growth in home energy upgrades under the national retrofit plan. In the period from 2019 to the end of 2025, those schemes have provided almost €1.7 billion in support to homeowners for over 244,000 home energy improvements, including almost 32,700 fully funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty under the warmer homes scheme, as well as approximately 18,000 heat pump installations. By any fair estimation, that is serious progress. Importantly, within that, in respect of those retrofits that are made to households, you are looking at savings of up to €1,200 per annum on energy bills. That is significant. They are permanent savings. They are making homes warmer, safer, more affordable and healthier in reducing the emissions and energy use from homes. There are other schemes within the carbon tax, which I will come back to on the supplementary.
Sentiment score: 0.35
We will agree to disagree because the carbon tax is ring-fenced and is due to bring permanent savings to households and to families. I have given the Deputy real, verified figures in relation to the number of homes. A total of 244,000 homes in this country have been retrofitted with the support of the grants, which I have just changed again to make them more accessible, particularly to middle-income families, by bringing forward a retrofitting passport. These include windows and doors grants, attic insulation grants and wall cavity grants. People do not have to go for the full deep retrofit and can access them. These measures bring about savings. People speak with their applications, that is, the tens of thousands of applications that we are receiving for these grants and the incredible interest in the new grant scheme that I have brought forward. I ask the Deputy not to lose sight of the fact that nearly 33,000 homes at risk of energy poverty or in energy poverty have been fully retrofitted with 100% grant aid through the carbon tax and the climate action fund. They are permanent savings for those low-income households. I will turn to social housing and what we have been able to do there as well.
Sentiment score: 0.20
We are targeting about 73,000 retrofits this year. That will bring our overall retrofit figure to well over 300,000. We are targeting 500,000 homes by the end of the decade. These are bringing about permanent changes for people. When we talk about energy prices - and I have already said this in response to Government and Opposition Deputies - we still have an issue, like many European countries, in relation to energy prices. We need to reduce them further. How are we going to do that? We are going to do that expanding renewables. We are doing well on renewables in solar and in wind. It will also be done on delivering on infrastructure that will bring about those savings, such as the North-South interconnector, which is a critical piece of infrastructure in this country that the Deputy's party is for in the North of Ireland and is against, apparently, in the Republic of Ireland. I am not sure. I asked Deputy Daly what the situation was there. This will deliver savings of over €100 per annum permanently for households and improve the grid resilience for all 32 counties in Ireland on an all-island and all-Ireland basis. I would have thought projects like that would have received the support of the Sinn Féin party. Apparently in the North they are supportive, and in the South, they are not.
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We fully support it now.
Sentiment score: 0.46
Before 2030.
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We discussed this particular estate before. I will go back to something the Deputy mentioned that I did not get to answer - the Minister of State was answering - in relation to the North-South interconnector. There will be no further reviews. We have had four independent reviews. The North-South interconnector needs to proceed as planned and as consented to in the North and in the South. We have got to get on with it. To answer the Deputy's question, to support individual homeowners, and following Government approval last month, I published a new national residential retrofit plan with an enhanced set of measures to increase the delivery of home energy upgrades, including heat pump installations. The SEAI and I held a briefing last Tuesday attended by many Deputies across the House, which they found useful. These changed grants will be very impactful. I encourage all to make sure their constituents are informed of these new Government initiatives. The retrofit plan will continue to make home energy upgrades more accessible and affordable, making it easier for homeowners to undertake deep retrofits on a phased basis. That has been a big issue, particularly for middle-income families. While the grants are substantial, those families do not have the financial capacity to do all the work at one time. The new measures include new and enhanced attic and cavity wall insulation grants, an enhanced heat pump system grant of up to €12,500 and €4,800 for windows and doors, as well as other grants. These can be reintroduced and done on an individual basis. The new recently announced heat pump system grant will reduce costs associated with a whole-house heating system upgrade. The new maximum grant is €12,500 and that encompasses the existing maximum of €6,500 for the heat pump, €2,000 for upgrading radiators and pipework and a new renewable heating bonus of €4,000. That is a seriously substantial increase and will make heat pumps much more accessible for people. All eligible homeowners can apply through the SEAI for these supports. With regard to converting from communal heating, individual homeowners, including those availing of a communal heating system, can apply for the individual heat pump grants.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I do. To be fair to the Deputy, he has raised the issue of Carlinn Hall residents, who find themselves in a very difficult situation. I will say two things on it. First, the enhanced grant for heat pumps is significant. Parking the politics, it has gone up to €12,500 and that might make the pumps more accessible. Second, at the request of the Deputy in the Dáil and elsewhere, and of Deputy McGreehan and others, we asked the SEAI to carry out a research project to provide assistance to residents in Carlinn Hall. It would be useful to examine the new grants to see whether they fit the residents’ circumstances. It is a communal system. Supports for geothermal drilling, which may offer another centralised solution for the Carlinn Hall development, have recently been approved as eligible under the SEAI support scheme for renewable heat. That is good news for residents. However, it is important to bear in mind that the Carlinn Hall heating system is privately owned and managed. The implementation of any recommendations from the report of the SEAI on Carlinn Hall, or indeed any premises wishing to switch to individual heat pump solutions, will be for individuals to decide on themselves. However, if we can continue to provide advice, we will.
Sentiment score: 0.23
Sure. We are drafting the heat networks (miscellaneous provisions) Bill. That will establish the regulatory model for district heating, including communal heating systems, to ensure consumer protections are in place and to support the delivery of a vibrant district heating industry. There is a genuine opportunity in Ireland in district heating. There is only one scheme in the whole country. We have a pipeline of approximately 20 others that could be delivered in the near term and that could make a difference to affordability. Using waste heat or excess heat is also critical. We will continue to provide any advice we can through the SEAI to residents of the estate. There is an opportunity for those concerned to examine the new suite of grants. The near-doubling of the heat-pump grant may make things more accessible for many households. Coupled with other grants available for housing estates of the age of Carlinn Hall, it might make things affordable. We will stay engaged on it.
Sentiment score: 0.21
The programme for Government reaffirms Ireland's commitment to and our ambitious target of 8 GW of solar capacity connected to the grid by 2030, to assist with meeting the goal of 80% electricity demand supplied through renewables. Solar energy is now a growing source of electricity, with about 2.4 GW of solar power capacity in our grid and another 1 GW on rooftops. Going back 12 years, it was only 2 MW, so the growth is incredible. The installed capacity we have amounts to powering approximately 520,000 homes. As part of this capacity, as I said, there is already 1 GW of rooftop solar. However, further solar capacity is required for Ireland to meet its domestic and international targets. The ESB has indicated that Ireland could expect the 8 GW of solar in Ireland by 2030 to require an area equal to about 0.26% of all agricultural land, based on a similar study in the UK. The statutory designation of lands for renewable energy development is undertaken by local authorities as part of the city and county development plan process, which may incorporate a local authority renewable energy strategy or a wind energy strategy. The SEAI is undertaking an update to the 2013 local authority renewable energy strategy methodology. This provides a robust, evidence-based and consistent approach for local authorities for the identification, assessment and planning for renewable energy development within their jurisdiction. Furthermore, I have been advised that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is at the early stages of preparing a new national planning statement on solar energy under the Planning and Development Act 2024. Under the accelerating renewable electricity task force, officials from my Department will continue to work closely with both the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Department of housing on these ongoing reforms, which will act to support and facilitate the deployment of solar, which is critical to the decarbonisation of Ireland's economy and greater climate resilience.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I understand the points the Deputy has raised. Solar is a relatively new but growing source of energy in Ireland. It is clean, green, sustainable and cheap energy. We have fine agricultural land across the country too and we need to make sure that we can continue to sustain our own population and sustain the agricultural and horticultural sector through our exports as well. We export over 80% of what we produce, as the Deputy knows. However, the advancement of renewables is critical to our energy security and to reaching our climate targets. The Deputy has rightly stated that any application that goes in for a wind farm, a solar farm or a biomethane plant is dealt with independently of the Government by the planning authority. I have seen applications approved; I have seen applications rejected. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is at initial stages of working on a national planning statement for the deployment of solar. It is important we are honest with people too, as the Deputy is being, that solar will continue to expand and is a very good source of clean energy for our country. It will reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuel as well and will ensure that we become energy-sovereign.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I will respond first to Deputy McCarthy, who tabled the question. Most of us are for sustainable, clean, renewable energy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel. We have had a good discussion and questions here about energy affordability. How do we drive that affordability? We drive that affordability by investing in our grid, by delivering projects like the North-South interconnector, by expanding our grid and grid resilience, and by expanding our renewables offering. There are communities that feel they have a concentration of different energy sources in their area. As the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, said in response to Deputy Ward, it is about looking at things like community benefit funds. I visited two battery installations in County Offaly last week, which are fully compliant with EU regulations. We need battery storage to deploy our energy at the right times. We need more renewables. We need onshore and offshore wind and onshore solar, or else we will continue importing gas from third countries.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 157 together. We have a few questions on the SEAI grants, which we have revised to make them more accessible for families. More than 244,000 homes across the country have been retrofitted. We have invested approximately €1.7 billion in retrofitting to deliver permanent savings for households, to reduce emissions and energy use and to make homes warmer, safer and healthier. The national retrofitting plan, along with the new and enhanced set of measures I have mentioned, will continue to make home energy upgrades more accessible and affordable. That is the main reason we are breaking up those grants. We are going to protect the warmer homes scheme, which provides 100% grants. We have done approximately 32,700 homes in that space. We are targeting more than 11,000 this year. Further work needs to be done on the lead times from date of application to completion of work. I have met the SEAI on that too. Homeowners availing of the other grants we offer can take a step-by-step approach. Even if someone is waiting for the warmer homes scheme, they can apply for grants in the interim. They can apply for attic insulation, wall insulation and start to break the grants down. I want to see more people accessing it. I recognise that costs have increased since 2022. That is why we have upped the grant limits. We have upped the grant levels for cavity wall insulation and attic insulation. These higher fixed grants will substantially reduce costs for homeowners. To help first-time buyers of existing homes to get on the energy upgrade journey quickly and at minimal cost, I have brought forward a specific grant for attic insulation for these new homeowners. This will support first-time buyers who purchase an existing property and who might not be in a financial position to undertake a complete energy upgrade. The new heat pump system grant will reduce the costs associated with a whole house heating system upgrade and accelerate the uptake of heat pumps. A fixed amount grant for installing a heat pump system will be introduced. This grant is significant. It is €6,500 for the heat pump, €2,000 towards the radiator upgrades and pipework and a new renewable heating bonus of €4,000. That brings the maximum grant up to €12,500. That will also apply to applications already in train and not already paid out. For the first time, homeowners can access a windows and doors grant as an individual measure for the installation of energy-efficient windows and doors to replace older ones that are performing poorly. That is for homes where the building fabric will meet, or already meets, a specified minimum performance standard. Many homes already meet this standard. We estimate that approximately 200,000 homeowners can apply right now for windows and doors grants of approximately €4,600. That is €800 per door and €3,000 for windows. They are significant amounts. The measure is designed to help homeowners to improve comfort and energy efficiency, while ensuring homes meet the building fabric standard suitable for our climate action targets. I have been advised by the SEAI that the register of windows and doors contractors has now been published on its site. There are 104 contractors registered as of last week. When applying for individual measures, homeowners will now have the option of applying themselves and having the grant refunded once works are complete, or applying themselves and having the grant paid to the bank account of their contractor, who can choose to offer them a discount upfront. They can basically charge net, and they will claim it back. They can also apply through a participating one-stop shop or energy partner, which will carry out the works for the homeowners and pass on the grant savings as a discount on the works. All of that is now up on the SEAI website.
Sentiment score: 0.26
There are options there. For some people this had operated already. They can apply for themselves and have the grant refunded once the works are completed. They can apply themselves and have the grant paid to the contractor and have that net option. There are low-interest loans available as well. If someone wants to go for a deeper retrofit and to do more work above and beyond, they can apply for that also. What we will endeavour to do with this round of changes to the grants is break them up. Before, for argument's sake, to get windows and doors you would have had to do a whole house upgrade. Even though the grants were good, you would have had to put substantial money towards it yourself. Many families do not have that, or that may not be a priority for them. Importantly within this, once you get this work done, your bills come down permanently. Your home is warmer, healthier and climate friendly too. All of those options are now on the SEAI website. I have also circulated a draft newsletter, and we have done a briefing with Members that was well attended by Government and Opposition last week.
Sentiment score: 0.23
You can go in. If you have already received one grant for one cavity wall, you can go in for a second one. If you did not get window grants before, you can go back in for them as well, so you are not precluded. The low-interest loan is available in both urban and rural Ireland. It is available across all 26 counties of the Republic. I do not have the breakdown per county, but we could certainly get that information for the Deputy as best as we have it.
Sentiment score: 0.22
The Deputy started asking his question. I did not pick up the start of it, so will he ask that again?
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