Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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109. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he plans to allocate more funding to Louth County Council in respect of the retrofitting scheme and housing adaptation grant as there is a significant backlog due to funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24297/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department supports local authorities with annual funding towards the management and maintenance of their social housing stock under a number of funding programmes including the Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Programme (EERP). My Department also provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs.

The EERP aims to retrofit a local authority home to a BER of B2/Cost Optimal Equivalent. It is expected that 36,500 local authority owned homes will be retrofitted under this programme out to 2030.

Works eligible under my Department's revised EERP include attic/cavity wall insulation or external wall insulation where required, windows and doors replacement, heat pump installation and ancillary and associated works. The funded measures achieve the B2 or cost optimal equivalent (BER).

Earlier this year, I announced funding of €90 million for the upgrade of approximately 2,500 social homes in 2024. Each local authority received an individual allocation along with a minimum target of homes they are required to retrofit.

Under the 2023 EERP programme Louth County Council were targeted at retrofitting 105 homes at an all in cost of €3,570,000. My department supported Louth County Council in completing a total of 205 units at a final cost of €7,193,125 which illustrates a significant commitment and support to both Louth County Council and the EERP scheme overall.

Under the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme, the initial Exchequer allocation in 2023 for Louth County Council was over €1.8 million. In June 2023, the Department provided approval for a further Exchequer allocation of over €570,000 to Louth County Council bringing its total Exchequer allocation to over €2.4 million in 2023. Louth County Council claimed Exchequer funding of €1.58 million in 2023.

The Exchequer funding provision of €74.5 million for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme has been increased by €8 million for 2024, continuing the year on year increases since 2014. Formal notification of 2024 allocations will be issued to local authorities shortly.