Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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53. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the objectives for the awarding of community energy grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41377/24]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister to outline the objectives for the awarding of community energy grants and to make a statement on the matter.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The community energy grant scheme is part of the Government's national retrofit programme. It aims to upgrade groups of buildings to high energy efficiency and renewable energy standards across communities in an efficient and cost-effective way. Capital funding of €45 million is provided for the scheme this year. The primary objective of the scheme is to support and maximise the number of home energy upgrades delivered. This includes upgrades to energy-poor, private, rental and approved housing body homes. Last year, 601 home energy upgrades were supported under the scheme, including 44 energy-poor homes and 68 approved housing body homes.

Non-domestic projects are also supported to encourage broader community engagement and mobilisation, and 290 non-residential projects were also supported last year. Other objectives include: building capacity by working with project co-ordinators on large-scale and complex projects; supporting cross-sectoral partnership approaches targeting public, private, commercial and community buildings; encouraging the retrofitting of rental properties; helping to develop the retrofit supply chain; building relationships with communities and businesses; and developing community project management capacity.

A number of changes to the scheme guidelines were introduced this year, including: support for projects focused solely on residential upgrades; improved supports to address the particular challenge of retrofitting multi-unit developments such as flat complexes, such as scaffolding and communal areas; and a pilot focused on area-based home retrofit projects which will encourage CEG project co-ordinators, local authorities and local energy agencies to collaborate, with an ethos of leaving no home behind.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for the reply. There are elements that I very much welcome, particularly the area-based approach. I know CEG was the pilot - I think it was in Cork. It may not be funded under that scheme in Fingal. I want to raise the change that was made in June relating to the guidelines from the CEG for real estate investment funds and commercial landlords to avail of the SEAI's retrofitting grant. I met representatives of the SEAI to discuss this and they confirmed that the purpose of this, as the Minister outlined, was to encourage real estate investment funds and commercial landlords to avail of the grants to retrofit rented properties. Approximately €81.6 million has already been drawn down. There is a risk that this will lead to renovictions and increasing rents for people. How will this be managed? We need to ensure that these funds are also available for individual properties with tenants in them and just not just hoovered up by real estate investment trust and funds.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I hear the Deputy's concerns. They are reflected in fact that with an AHB or some similar multi-apartment model, it is a 50% grant, whereas if it is dealing with a commercial rental organisation, REIT or others, it is a 30% grant. I am not so certain about the risks. The benefit is that it will mean lower cost for the tenant. We have a real difficulty in the rental sector. Tenants do not have agency or control and they end up paying higher bills unless the building is retrofitted. I said earlier that we should leave no home behind. We need to leave no category behind. The rental property sector deserves the same capability of living in a cosy home apartment and that simply needs to be done. We can look at a variety of different ways of doing it, but I think it is appropriate to provide them with something similar, if smaller, but still grant-supported so that they are not excluded. Those renters deserve our attention in what is increasingly really comprehensive. I referred to us being world leading earlier. What we are doing on retrofitting is increasing seen as world leading.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I do not disagree with the Minister. I and my party have been wrestling with how to deal with the private rented sector. The Minister has heard my concern over the risk that these well-organised, well-resourced real estate investment funds will take great advantage of this while small landlords do not. At the same time, there is potential for rent increases because we know renovation improvement works are one of the ways to increase the rent in a rent-pressure zone. I am flagging that this needs to be on the radar of Government and is something that we will certainly be tracking.

There is another thing that needs to be to be addressed. We asked for a breakdown of the private rented categories by real estate investment fund, AHBs and individual landlords. That data is not being collected. We were specifically told that they do not hold data providing for a breakdown by landlord type and that needs to be addressed.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I take both recommendations. It is a valid point. We need to monitor, measure and continually adapt. If there are signs that retrofitting is leading to big rent increases, increased evictions or any other such measure, obviously we would have to adjust and see what can be done. It is right to start going into the rental sector, however, and make sure it is not left behind. We need to monitor and adjust as we do so. It is an iterative process. It is important to give a signal in the medium term.

One of the benefits of the carbon tax, as we discussed earlier, is that every year we know that money will increase, with an additional €89 million this year outside the budget process. That gives a signal to the industry that we are serious. It is important to give the signal to the rental sector that we are also going into that sector now and it should start gearing up to get ready to improve the properties. That is in everyone's interest.