Home energy upgrade scheme
Deputy Fitzpatrick asked for more information on the new national retrofit scheme and the 500,000-home target. The Tánaiste said one-stop shops were being rolled out so people could get hassle-free advice and support.
On behalf of the Regional Group, I wish Teresa Doolan the best of luck in the Department of Justice. When I became a Deputy 11 years ago, Noel Murphy was the first person to introduce me to the Dáil. I would like to wish him and Liam the best of luck.
The Government announced that a new national energy upgrade scheme will offer increased grant levels of up to 50% of the cost of a typical deep retrofit to a B2 home energy standard. He said the target is to retrofit 500,000 homes to a B2 home energy standard by 2030. This is about 30% of the homes in the State. People need more information, updates and communication. How do people qualify for the scheme? People want to know who will do the work and when it will start. The scheme is being administered by the SEAI. It is a fantastic scheme, but can the Tánaiste give us more information?
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I thank the Deputy. The plan is to have a hassle-free home energy upgrade scheme. One-stop shops are being established to take the stress and hassle out of the process so that people can get this work done quickly.
At the moment, there are two one-stop shops registered but there are another two that will be approved shortly, bringing us to four. There are a further 15 companies in the middle of the application process. We anticipate in the relatively near future having approximately 19 one-stop shops around the country up and running to which people can go to get all the information they need. It is a great programme. The only constraint on getting it done will not be money or interest, it will be finding skilled workers to carry out the work.