The government of Ireland has unveiled a plan to retrofit one-third of the country's housing stock by 2030. To reach the objective, which corresponds to upgrading 500,000 homes by 2030, the country will have to conduct around 76,000 retrofits per year from 2026, compared to 15,500 in 2021. The new National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme - administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) - will offer increased grant levels of up to 50% of the cost of a typical home energy upgrade with a heat pump (up from the current level of 30-35%). In addition, the authorities will simplify procedures for home energy upgrades, including access to financing, increase the number of free energy upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty, and offer a special enhanced grant rate, equivalent to 80% of the typical cost, for attic and cavity wall insulation for all households. A national fund of €8bn (National Development Plan funding) will finance the measure until 2030, including €267m in 2022 to support 27,000 home enery upgrades; most of the 2022 financing is expected to come from carbon taxes revenues. The country also intends to use a portion of its COVID-19 recovery funds from the European Union to finance its retrofitting program.
In July 2021, Ireland transformed into law the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill. The law sets a binding target of cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 51% by 2030 compared to 2018, with the aim of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. In November 2021, the Irish government unveiled its €125bn Climate Action Plan, which targets the retrofitting of 500,000 homes by 2030 (target of 44-56% reduction in emissions from Homes and Buildings).