Warmer Homes retrofit delays
Denis Naughten said thousands in fuel poverty had waited years for retrofit supports and asked for rural social scheme workers to help with urgent insulation work. The Taoiseach said retrofitting investment was being scaled up and that demand for SEAI schemes was very high.
More than 9,600 people in fuel poverty have been waiting some two and a half years to access the retrofitting programme under the warmer homes scheme. While this scheme is great for those who are lucky enough to avail of it, it is of little use to address the cost of electricity today. There are 2,900 participants on the rural social scheme, many of whom are involved in outdoor maintenance work which normally winds down during the winter months. I ask that these staff be redeployed as an emergency measure to install attic insulation, attic door covers and lagging jackets in the homes of those in fuel poverty over the coming weeks. These are the simplest and most significant measures that can be taken to reduce the cost of heating this winter, saving older people and families money, reducing their risk of illness and reducing overall energy demand in the country.
Comment on this
The Government is investing in retrofitting on a massive scale. Some €8 billion will be allocated out to 2030. The revenue has to be generated to allow that to happen. That is giving certainty to the industry and allows the supply chain to scale up, creating thousands of high-quality jobs and delivering a critical national objective. Demand across Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, retrofit schemes has been exceptionally high since the Government's announcement. As of the end of August, more than 30,000 applications for support had been received, a 140% increase on the same period last year, and 13,500 home energy upgrades had been completed, which is up 70% compared with the same period last year. Of this number, 2,769 homes had been upgraded under SEAI energy poverty schemes, which is almost three times the number of homes upgraded in the same period last year. Latest projections from the SEAI indicate that the target of 27,000 home energy upgrades will be delivered this year. That compares with 15,000 upgrades last year.
