Westmeath housholds urged to look into energy saving upgrades

Westmeath Fianna Fáil Minister Robert Troy has urged local households to look into submitting application for energy saving upgrades.

The Longford Westmeath TD said nearly 54,000 home energy upgrades completed through SEAI in 2024.

A total of 186,000 homes have benefited from more than €1.2 billion in Government funded home energy upgrade supports since 2019.

There was a 13% increase in number of home energy upgrades in 2024 compared to 2023 showing "a continued momentum in home retrofitting".

The Government supported 53,984 home energy upgrades via the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) in 2024. This exceeded the 2024 target of 52,200 properties and represents an increase of 13% on the number of upgrades for the same period for the previous year.

As of the end of 2024, the Government had invested €1.2 billion in energy upgrades across 186,000 homes and 156 community energy projects, with one third of the expenditure in 2024. Half of all this expenditure, €600 million, was on upgrades to homes in energy poverty. These upgrade works leveraged a further €1.1 billion in private investment and have led to new annual carbon dioxide abatement of more than 310kT CO2 per annum.

Westmeath Fianna Fáil Minister Robert Troy has welcomed the figures which have been released by the Department of the Environment and urged eligible households to look into submitting an application. “Through the various SEAI backed schemes we have seen huge benefits delivered to tens of thousands of homeowners in the past number of years. These households will reap the benefits of upgrades for many years to come, seeing a substantial reduction in energy costs, and will pass on the benefits to our environment as we strive to meet our climate targets”.

“The warmer homes scheme has been hugely successful in helping elderly, or vulnerable homeowners to vastly improve the efficiency of their homes, at no cost to the household. This is a scheme I have assisted many constituents in accessing, and have seen the real benefits first hand. Allied to this the SEAI operate many other support schemes for both homeowners, and businesses”.

Government expenditure across all schemes reached €416.7 million in 2024, up 30% year on year. Of the homes upgraded, 7,700 were in energy poor households which received totally free energy upgrades.

“This report shows continued steady progress and delivery across SEAI home energy upgrade schemes. It’s particularly positive to see that there was a 31% increase in the delivery of upgrades for energy poverty households, with over 7,700 completed in 2024 – this works out at an average of 150 upgrades every week last year. Home energy upgrades have the ability to transform people’s lives through living in warmer, healthier homes, as well as the added benefit of living in a home that has a lower carbon footprint and lower running costs.

"This report comes as we mark another milestone – the fact over €1.2 billion in Government funded home energy upgrades have been delivered to Irish households since 2019. While a lot of progress has been made in the area of retrofits, we know we have to continue to build on and accelerate the level of upgrades taking place. This is a key focus for us as a new government to ensure we can meet our climate commitments and that citizens continue to reap the benefits of living in more efficient, comfortable and climate friendly homes.”

“If we are to meet Ireland’s Climate Action Plan target of 500,0000 B2 home energy upgrades, together we need to deliver on average 75,000 B2-equivalent home upgrades each year from 2026 to 2030 across the system. It’s vitally important that pace and engagement continue to support the realisation of Ireland’s energy transition. In 2025 we will continue to focus on educating and motivating homeowners on the benefits of home energy upgrades, such as lower energy bills, better BERs, as well as the wide range of grants and supports available for homeowners to make the switch to heat pumps. These include the low interest loans now available through numerous financial institutions.”

The headline deliverables in 2024, across all home energy upgrade schemes administered by SEAI were:

1. Upgraded almost 54,000 properties (up 13% year on year)

2. Completed 21,800 BER B2 upgrades (up 24% year on year)

3. Delivered 7,700 upgrades for energy poverty qualifying households (up 31% year on year)

4. Installed 3,600 heat pumps, bringing the total for 2019-2024 to 14,194.

5. Secured 545 Approved Housing Body upgrades supported under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme (one stop shop service), and 224 under the Community Energy Grants scheme.

The residential upgrades in 2024 have led to 146 GWh in energy savings and total of 68kt in CO2 savings. Last year was also another strong year for the Solar PV Scheme, with 28% growth in installed solar PV systems (160 MW installed Solar PV capacity).