A Government low-interest loan to incentivise home retrofits will be a “game-changer” once it is launched in early 2024, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan has said.
Mr Ryan said the interest rates of 3-4 per cent offered in the scheme would make it the “best in Europe” and add to the record number of 63,000 applications for retrofitting grants already received for 2024.
The incentive will be launched in February through Irish banks, he said, with backing from the State and a “guarantee system” of low-interest rates agreed with the European Investment Bank.
“The loan rates will vary between 3-4 per cent ... that is a really significant reduction on market rates at the moment.
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“Roughly 2 per cent is Government support, and roughly 1.5 per cent is the guarantee system we have in place with the European Investment Bank,” he said.
Mr Ryan was speaking during a round-table interview with the media to mark the end of the Oireachtas autumn term.
“It’s already working. I got figures yesterday from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland [SEAI]. This year we’re looking at 46,390 upgrades – about 16,000 of them were up to B2 standard.
[ Credit union loans jump as demand for retrofitting and mortgages growsOpens in new window ]
“And the order books for next year are full. There are 63,000 energy upgrade applications in, so the next year is looking better again,” he said.
Mr Ryan said solar panels or PV (photovoltaic energy) were also “really taking off”.
“We have had 1 gigawatt of PV [generated] in 2023 whereas two years ago we had nothing. About 40 per cent of that is from people’s homes and business; about 60 per cent from solar farms in fields,” he said.
The upper end of the funding advance would be €75,000, with the loans repayable over 10 years, he said.
The scheme was designed for major retrofits of existing homes that have poor energy ratios and insulation. “[The loan] would have to be part of a wider upgrade but it is a game-changer,” he said.
Asked why people could not access smaller loans, Mr Ryan, who is leader of the Green Party, said: “Going into the house several times is disruptive but also there are real efficiencies and cost gains [if it is done as one job].”
He said his view was that the retrofit deal being offered was the best in Europe.
[ Home energy upgrades: How to identify the right retrofit partnerOpens in new window ]
Turning to the proposed Metro underground train system for Dublin, Mr Ryan said the project would be completed by the early 2030s.
“There has been so much work done, and the planning is so advanced. There are 10,000 page documents that have gone into An Bord Pleanála. This has been analysed inside out so I’m confident we will get it through planning and we will build quicker than people think,” he said.
Asked about delays in planning, he said it was important to respect the independence of the planning system.
Asked specifically when the Metro would be completed, he said it would be “in the early part of the next decade”.
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