There's some positive news for Ireland's climate ambitions this week as new figures released by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) show the uptake on home energy upgrade grants by households in Carlow and Kilkenny in the first half of 2024 increased by 25% in Kilkenny and by 40% in Carlow compared to the same period last year.
As the SEAI published details on the 25,750 home energy upgrades supported through Government funded grant schemes in the first half of 2024, the 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, 85 of which were in Carlow and Kilkenny. Indeed, the key takeaways are positive across all metrics:
Figures show Government supported almost 900 home energy upgrades for Carlow Kilkenny households in the first half of 2024.
Upgrades in Carlow Kilkenny are up 31% on the same period last year, far exceeding the national average.
Nationally 25,750 property upgrades were completed to mid-year, with expenditure across all schemes totalling €186 million.
National increase of 18% on the number of upgrades for the same period last year shows retrofitting surge is not slowing down.
The SEAI report shows continued momentum and strong delivery across its retrofit schemes nationally, but growth is particularly strong in Carlow and Kilkenny. 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, while it increased by 50% in Kilkenny.
I'm particularly pleased to see a 29% increase in the delivery of free home energy upgrades under the Warmer Homes Scheme for Carlow Kilkenny households at risk of energy poverty. This means that 85 low-income households have received upgrades and those individuals and families are now living in warmer, healthier, more comfortable homes, with lower energy bills and lower emissions. That figure is up from 66 last year.
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 loan take effect. We have to keep this trajectory going so that even more homes will be transformed over the coming months and years, and I would urge people - particularly those in receipt of the fuel allowance - to visit the SEAI website at www.seai.ie to find out what supports might be available to them.
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