Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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161. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 216 of 15 February 2022, the way that the additional funding in the recently announced plans will be spent given that these figures reference a €1 billion a year spend while the figures in the reply reference projected spending of less than half that; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9870/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The 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 equivalent), and to install 400,000 heat pumps to replace existing heating systems by 2030. The review of the National Development Plan (NDP) resulted in an unprecedented financial commitment to support achievement of the Government’s retrofit targets. A total of €8 billion of Exchequer funding (including €5 billion in carbon tax revenues) will be available to support residential upgrades to 2030.The planned annual allocations for Residential Retrofitting as outlined in the Climate Action Plan 2021 are set out in the table below with adjustments to the 2022 figure reflecting the recent Government decision on specific supports to aid the delivery of Ireland's National Retrofit Programme. 

In terms of profile, the projections are for a significant ramp up in output and outturn over the decade. This will require a major increase in the sector with significant employment opportunities nationwide. The recently announced increases in grants, together with the multi-annual funding certainty are key enablers for this.