Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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325. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated cost to the social housing retrofitting scheme of retrofitting all remaining local authority housing stock that is below a B3 BER rating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28890/24]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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326. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated cost of extending the social housing retrofitting scheme to Approved Housing Bodies and retrofitting all AHB housing stock that is below a B3 BER rating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28891/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 325 and 326 together.

Since 2013, Exchequer funding has been provided through my Department's Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP) to support local authorities with the retrofit of local authority owned homes requiring insulation and energy upgrade works. Over the period 2013 to the end of 2023, local authorities received over €308 million in funding to carry out energy upgrade works on over 79,000 properties.

Works eligible under my Department's revised EERP, which was launched in 2021 as part of the Programme for Government commitment to retrofit 500,000 homes to B2/Cost Optimal BER by 2030, of which approximately 36,500 are expected to be local authority owned, include attic/cavity wall insulation or external wall insulation where required, windows and doors replacement, heat pump installation and ancillary and associated works.

The programme has been devised in a way to give local authorities a level of flexibility when selecting properties to retrofit, ranging from those requiring minor levels of works to properties needing the maximum level of retrofitting required to bring them to a B2/Cost Optimal Equivalent standard. The actual cost of retrofitting works on each home will depend on its pre-works BER. Targets set and funding allocated to local authorities under the new programme allow for local authorities to undertake a variety of house types, from those requiring minimal investment to those requiring major investment, in order to achieve the B2/Cost Optimal BER. Local authorities are asked to ensure that the average cost per home drawn down under the programme is circa €34,000, excluding project management fees. Adhering to this average will ensure that the maximum number of homes can be retrofitted with the available budget.

An annualised breakdown of the total funding provided and the number of properties upgraded under the Energy Efficiency Retrofit programme for the years 2013-2023 is available on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/668c1-energy-efficiency-retrofitting-programme-expenditure-output/

My Department also introduced a pilot Midlands Energy Retrofit Programme in 2020, the details of which are found below. A further 674 properties were retrofitted to a BER of B2/ Cost Optimal Equivalent and these figures are in addition to the National Retrofit Programme.

www.gov.ie/en/publication/b86b3-midlands-energy-retrofit-programme-expenditure-and-units/#

Each year the target number of units and funding provided under the EERP are subject to the funding availability as part of the National Development Plan and annual Estimates process. The 2024 EERP budget provides an increase in funding support to €90 million to retrofit 2,500 properties. Local authorities have received their individual allocations and work is underway in that regard.

My Department does not run an EERP for Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and does not have information in relation to the current energy performance of the AHB stock. AHBs have traditionally worked with and accessed SEAI grants for this purpose. There are currently no plans to extend my Departments Retrofit Programme to the AHB sector.