'Homes and communities will be transformed' says Minister on Carlow retrofit surge

Green Party TD for Carlow Kilkenny and Minister for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan has today welcomed new figures released by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) which show the uptake on home energy upgrade grants by households in Carlow in the first half of 2024 increased by 40% when compared to the same period last year.

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As the SEAI published details of the 25,750 home energy upgrades supported through Government funded grant schemes in the first half of 2024, figures showed Government expenditure across all schemes reached €186 million - a 44% increase on the same period in 2023. Of the homes upgraded, 3,300 were low-income households which benefited from totally free energy upgrades, 42 of which were in Carlow.

Reacting to the figures, Minister Noonan said:

“The report from the SEAI shows continued momentum and strong delivery across the SEAI retrofit schemes nationally, but particularly in Carlow. In the first six months of this year, 33 households in Carlow availed of government support to complete a full retrofit compared to just one household in the first half of 2023, and looking at individual measures, uptake on solar PV more than doubled in Carlow.

“I particularly welcome the increase in the delivery of free upgrades under the Warmer Homes Scheme for Carlow households at risk of energy poverty. It means that 42 low-income households received upgrades and those individuals and families are now living in warmer, healthier, more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills and lower emissions.

“This half year report gives us a good snapshot of where our retrofitting programme is at, and it shows that we’re moving in the right direction. I know that Government intends to build on this progress in the coming months as the impact of initiatives such as the recently launched retrofit communications campaign and the low-cost retrofit loans take effect. We have to keep this trajectory going so that even more homes and communities will be transformed over the coming months and years, and I would urge people to visit the SEAI website (www.seai.ie) to find out what supports might be available to them.”