Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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86. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the measures he is taking to increase the number of homes retrofitted as part of the Government's retrofitting scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6770/25]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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The retrofitting scheme is clearly not working. We need to increase the number of homes that are retrofitted as part of the Government's retrofitting scheme. Will the Minister please discuss this? Many people are locked out of the scheme - those who need it most in particular - because of the way it is structured. According to a survey in December, many people cannot afford to retrofit their homes because of costs.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. It is an important scheme. We will continue it and there are exacting targets there. I would not say it is not working; it is. All schemes can always be improved somewhat. Ireland has one of the most ambitious home retrofit targets in the world. The national retrofit plan sets out how these targets will be met, including an €8 billion financial investment to 2030. There is an absolute commitment by this Government and successive Governments to do this.

A range of measures have been introduced in recent years to support the achievement of our targets. This includes enhanced SEAI grant schemes, including expanded eligibility and higher grants and a simplified application process, which we still need to continue to look at. Faster approvals are needed. I just responded to my colleague, Deputy Cleere, on that very thing. It also includes the establishment of a network of 24 SEAI-registered one-stop shops, with further growth in the network expected this year and a reformed warmer homes scheme for homeowners in energy poverty. We have made good progress there but I want to see the processing times reduced further. They have reduced, but they need to go further.

There are enhanced supports for retrofitting apartment buildings and flat complexes; new supports for area-based retrofit projects for mixed-ownership estates aimed at encouraging homeowners, regardless of requirements or means, to get a retrofit. I have witnessed those schemes in my constituency, in Portmarnock. The pilot schemes are being expanded further, which needs to happen. There is a new pilot scheme to support the retrofitting of traditionally built homes; two pilots aimed at informing approaches to increase the number of heat pumps installed; the new home energy upgrade loan scheme, the extension of which we launched to An Post Money and Avant, with interest rates as low as 3%; a tax incentive to encourage small-scale landlords to undertake retrofitting; a reduction in VAT for heat pumps to 9% and a 0% rate for solar panels; expanded obligations on energy companies to support homeowners and energy-poor households to reduce energy use. I could go on - there are lots of good things happening. There is an opportunity when a new Government and new Minister come into office to look at what is being done and how it can be improved further.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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The programme for Government, which I think the Minister referenced, hinted at an area-based element - another proposal Sinn Féin had. Will the Minister provide more detail about this and how he plans to target low income households, many of which are excluded? Will there be targeting based on income, as we put forward in our fairer retrofit plan? A woman from Dingle contacted me to say how bitterly disappointed she was over the refusal of the SEAI grant. She waited 18 months in total only to be told, based on the report, that she had been refused. She was not pension age, which is why she would not qualify, she said. The SEAI never contacted her, just sent on the report. It is failing to deliver on the 2030 targets. The Government is supposed to retrofit 500,000 homes and install 400,000 heat pumps but it is way off the targets. Those on the warmer homes scheme barely get a look in when it comes to these targets because the average uplift is BER C3. Only 49 households were fitted with a heat pump as part of the warmer homes scheme. That is inadequate. The Government has finally acknowledged this. I acknowledge there have been some improvements. Will the Minister outline in particular how he will target low-income homes?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I gave quite a detailed answer to Deputy Cleere earlier, particularly on the warmer homes scheme because it focuses on lower income and more complex homes with BER E, F and G ratings. I want to see a reduction in the waiting period. The Deputy mentioned a constituent in Dingle who waited 18 months for a decision. The average processing time has reduced from 24 to 18 months but I want to see it reduced further but it cannot be turned over overnight. However, there have been 162,000 home energy upgrades - more than 55,000 B2 upgrades, 22,000 fully-funded upgrades under the warmer homes scheme and 10,500 local authority homes as well. The vast majority have been paid for through the carbon tax, ring-fenced funding to enable us to retrofit homes. I want to improve and expand it. We will continue to look at that. Some €280 million has been allocated to the warmer homes scheme. That is an elevenfold increase on what it was in only 2020. It can always be improved and we need to do that.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Anybody who canvassed last month, whether in Dublin, Clare, Mayo, Galway or Kerry will know that the people dependent on solid fuel are those with the lowest of incomes. This scheme still fails to deal with solid fuel homes. Many people are left out in the cold as a result. Solid fuel homes are also linked to higher health risks. Those with open fires are twice as likely to have respiratory diseases. Unlike the Government, which has zero measures to address these specific homes, we have repeatedly called for targeted measures as part of the fairer retrofit plan. These homes are often the poorest and most carbon-intensive, more likely to be located in rural areas and are more common in households aged over 50. We are interested in a just transition but the Government seems content to leave these workers behind. Does the Government have plans to incorporate and target solid fuel homeowners in particular in the retrofitting scheme?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I am reviewing all the schemes. There is an opportunity when a new Minister comes in to look at what is working and what can be improved. I would like to see us accelerate the transition from solid fuel but we should not rubbish the existing schemes. From 2020 alone, what Ireland is investing in this area is unprecedented - €1.1 billion and 162,000 home energy upgrades, which I mentioned already, and almost 230,000 grant support applications received by the SEAI. I will look in particular at our more senior citizens in energy poverty, which I mentioned in an earlier response to another Deputy. I want to look at how the categorisation works and how it can work. I am not content with an average waiting period of 18 months, which I said. I think it is fair enough to say that. We need skills in this sector too and we need to pay for it. I am happy to take constructive views on board. I note the alternative fairer plan to which the Deputy referred. I could not see how that would be paid for in order to expand it. I will look at these schemes and take Deputies' views on board. I am engaging with the SEAI around the criteria and how the processing time can be improved for these grants, particularly the warmer homes grants.