Whither the Government’s low-cost retrofitting loan scheme?

After several false starts, the Government says it is close to getting its low-cost home retrofitting loan scheme up and running. The need for it is obvious, given the seemingly inexorable rise in building costs and interest rates over the past year. As one Irish Times reader put in last week’s Budget 2024 Q&A, the current Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) grants are “not anywhere near sufficient to support external insulation”.

Homeowners will be hoping for a speedy roll-out but the process thus far has been something of a farce.

As part of its Climate Action Plan, the Government unveiled its ambitious National Retrofitting Scheme in February 2022, aimed at delivering 75,000 home upgrades a year from 2026-2030 to achieve its overall target of 500,000 by 2030.

A key component of the plan was a proposal for a low-interest loan guarantee scheme, allowing households to fund the non-SEAI grant part of their project costs at reduced rates of interest, between 3 and 3.5 per cent.

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Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said at the time the scheme would be in place by the summer of 2022. That self-imposed, soft deadline was ultimately missed with the policy effectively announced for a second time in Budget 2023 in September of last year. When pressed, a spokeswoman for the department said the initiative would be off the ground in “early” 2023. Early 2023 then became “in the coming months” and finally, in August, we were told the “loan guarantee will be in place in quarter three of this year”.

After a brief mention again in Paschal Donohoe’s budget day speech last week, the most recent line from the Department of the Environment is that the scheme will be in place “by the end of the year”. In response to questions last week, a spokesman said Mr Ryan would be seeking Government approval for the loan scheme “this month”.

“Further details in relation to the loan scheme will be available following Cabinet approval,” he said.

[ How to retrofit your home and slash your energy bills ]

Some have speculated the delays may be deliberate and ultimately sensible, given the chronic skills shortage and soaring demand for workers and materials. Whatever the case, the strategy appears to be undergoing its own retrofit to make it fit for purpose.