Difficult to See How Govt Will Meet Retrofitting Targets
Responding to the approval of the Government’s retrofitting programme, Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has said it is difficult to see the government meeting those targets when little over 18,000 homes were retrofitted in 2020.
An Teachta Tóibín: “Ireland has been glacial in rolling out deep retrofitting of housing stock. A government with real ambition on fuel and on the environment would be ramping up significantly the task of insolation retrofitting. Sadly, this government believes setting targets, as opposed to meeting targets, suffices for ambition. Since 2019, under the government’s Climate Action Plan, the State has committed to retrofitting 50,000 homes per year. Since 2013, the state has delivered little over 23,000 houses per annum. In 2020, the number fell to 18,400 homes – with only 4,000 of these homes being of a B2 rating. Even under the Energy Efficiency/Retrofitting Programme established in 2013, only 68,000 social houses have been retrofitted with ‘an average cost of €1,885 per home retrofitted under the measure.’ The government has wholly missed targets set since 2013, with funding for various retrofitting schemes only inadequate.”
“Now, the government has upped the targets to 62,500 retrofitted homes per annum – a total of 500,000 by 2030. Yet funding is a third of what it should be. Indeed, it has emerged the government’s €100 electricity credit will be partially funded by an underspend of the retrofitting budget. At a time when home energy costs are up 50%, how can the government say that retrofitting is being taken seriously when the already inadequate pot for retrofitting is being plundered for a €100 electricity credit that will go just as much to Denis O’Brien, as low income families.”