188. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if changes will be introduced to SEAI grants to allow persons with properties which already have had heat pumps installed some years ago to reapply for these grants. [62738/26]

My Department funds a number of grant schemes, administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), to support homeowners improve the energy efficiency of their dwellings. The grants are available to all households to support the fabric upgrade of buildings (e.g. insulation), as well as solar PV and heat pump installation.

In 2026, a budget allocation of €640 million has been provided for the SEAI residential and community schemes, targeting over 73,000 home energy upgrades. This is up on the 58,000 home energy upgrades delivered in 2025.

The National Residential Retrofit Plan, announced in January 2026, includes new and enhanced measures to make retrofitting supports more accessible, allowing homeowners to access windows and doors grants as part of individual measures, as well as increasing grant rates for insulation and heat pumps.

Specifically, in terms of heat pumps:

(i) the heat pump system grant has been expanded for a maximum total grant value of up to €12,500;

(ii) a new grant of €6,500 is available for replacement of an existing heat pump that has reached end of its life and is out of warranty and where the in-situ Heat Pump has not previously been grant aided under any SEAI domestic grant scheme; and

(iii) the VAT rate for heat pumps was reduced to 9% in January 2025.

More information on the heat pump grant can be found on the SEAI website.

The SEAI operate their schemes within a specified governance framework with a set of rules determining eligibility for grant support. The eligibility criteria for the heat pump grants are in line with other SEAI support schemes in that general rules apply whereby approval must be in place before works commence and grant funding can only be awarded once per measure per property. The schemes, along with the eligibility rules, are designed to deliver energy savings for the widest range of homeowners possible, whilst also making the most efficient use of limited Exchequer funding.

Homeowners can readily check grant eligibility on the SEAI website by inputting the property’s 11-digit MPRN that appears on an electricity bill into the online application wizard and receive the result in a matter of minutes.

My Department and the SEAI continue to ensure that grant schemes' terms and conditions, eligibility criteria and rates are kept under review taking account of demand, research, innovation, evolving technology and other relevant factors, making appropriate changes as necessary.