New and enhanced Irish retrofit grants go live on 6 October

Top up grant for heat pump switch

Irish homeowners seeking to switch from boilers, solid fuel or storage heaters to heat pumps can avail of an additional €2k worth of grant funding – bringing the total amount a homeowner can claim for heat pump grants up to a maximum of €14,500. The extra grant is reserved for pre-2021 homes with oil, gas or LGP boilers, solid fuel burners or electric storage heaters.

The new measures, all of which are effective from 6 October, also include:

• Solar photovoltaic systems and batteries offered as standard under the Warmer Homes Scheme, which provides 100 per cent funded retrofits for fuel poor households.
• More generous grants for solar, attic and cavity insulation for certain Department of Social Protection recipients and homes in HAP, RAS, and RASP tenancies.
• More favourable eligibility criteria for solar PV and solar thermal.
• Enhanced supports for businesses that will save thousands in energy costs.

The package, announced by Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD, has been designed to build on existing grant measures and help households and businesses reduce energy costs, lower dependence on fossil fuels and strengthen Ireland’s energy security.

Developed through the work of the National Energy Affordability Taskforce (NEAT), the package includes a range of improvements to the schemes administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) that will make it easier and more affordable for households and businesses to improve energy efficiency, install renewable energy technologies, and switch to cleaner heating systems.

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“Many households and businesses continue to face real pressure from high energy costs. Recent developments in international energy markets have once again highlighted the importance of reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels and strengthening our energy security,” said Minister O’Brien. “The Government has already introduced more than €1.4 billion in energy affordability measures since March. The measures announced today build on that response by making it easier and more affordable for households and businesses to reduce their energy bills through energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner heating technologies.”

The minister said further measures will be considered as part of Budget 2027, while the forthcoming Energy Affordability Action Plan, to be published in November, will set out a roadmap for improving energy affordability for households and businesses.

“The only long-term solution to high energy bills is to stop relying on the fossil fuels that drive them, and the best way to do that is through retrofit,” said SEAI CEO William Walsh. “We've had unprecedented demand to our programmes this year, with some of our offerings seeing an over 200 per cent rise in the number of applications. These new measures are really welcome and will help us reach even more next year, especially those most in need, which is always a particular focus for us at SEAI.”

To view information on all SEAI grants – also including One Stop Shop grants, building fabric upgrade measures and business upgrade grants – visit https://www.seai.ie/