Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2023
145. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he is aware of dramatic increases in electricity in air-to-water/geothermal households; if he will consider further supports in future; if there are measures being put in place to ease these price increases in light of more offshore renewables under construction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32619/23]
View answerIn 2022, the Government introduced a new package of supports to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades to reduce their energy use, including grants for the installation of heat pumps to replace fossil fuel heating systems. The heat pump grant was significantly increased with grant support for an air to water or geothermal heat pump increasing from €3,500 to up to €6,500. For homeowners undertaking a deep retrofit with a heat pump under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme (NHEUS) or the Community Energy Grant (CEG) Scheme, additional grant support is available towards required heating system upgrades, as well as a bonus payment of €2,000 to eligible homeowners. This equates to a potential grant support of up to €10,500 available to homeowners upgrading to a heat pump as part of a deep retrofit project.
Heat pumps, when installed in homes with sufficient insulation, are extremely efficient and very economical to run offering lower energy costs to homeowners as well as reduced carbon emissions. There is also no requirement for additional heating sources in homes heated using heat pumps, meaning households do not have additional bills for oil, gas or solid fuel. Full details on the range of SEAI supports available can be found at www.seai.ie.
Expanding offshore wind generation is one of a series of necessary measures to ensure we eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Future deployment of solar PV, system flexibility, storage technologies including batteries and green hydrogen as well as regional and international interconnection will also be crucial to enable high levels of renewable electricity on the grid, reduce emissions, and ultimately secure lower energy costs for consumers.
Government is committed to helping people meet high energy costs, with a particular focus on those most vulnerable. Most recently, a €470 million package was announced in February which introduced measures assisting social protection recipients between April and July, and extended the reduced VAT rate on electricity and gas bills until the end of October 2023. This followed the €2.5 billion of once-off supports announced in Budget 2023, including various targeted social protection payments and an Electricity Cost Emergency Benefit Scheme which credited €600 (inclusive of VAT) to each domestic electricity account in three payments of €200.
Government is closely monitoring the impact of these supports and long-term measures to increase home energy efficiency through the implementation of the Energy Poverty Action Plan. Further measures are being considered in the context of Budget 2024.
