The Hardware Association Ireland says it has a solution to the government’s conundrum over retrofitting half a million homes by 2030.

Retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient is a fundamental step in reducing carbon emissions, but Ireland lags far behind other European countries on home energy efficiency.

The government wants to retrofit 500,000 homes but, according to HAI, the Programme for Government raises more questions than answers and has very little detail on how the target would be delivered.

HAI chief executive Martin Markey said: “We have published an excellent solution to the problem of retrofitting. The government wants to retrofit 500,000 homes by 2030 and we have a solution that is tried and tested, and which will work. Our projection is that our plan, Rebuilding Our Future, could reduce Ireland’s total carbon emissions by 6%.’’

The plan centres on encouraging homeowners to retrofit their homes by using the Home Renovation Incentive Scheme model, which Markey says has worked in the past to encourage home renovations.

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“The system at the moment is far too expensive for homeowners,” he added. “Our plan will involve a highly targeted campaign to move those with a BER rating of C and D up to a B rating. The savings on our energy bills and the creation of 14,000 clean jobs will more than cover the costs of incentivising homeowners and local councils. 

• Download HAI Proposals For Retrofitting

“Our plan has a number of progressive tax incentives for retrofitting your home. This will include being able to claim tax back on materials and labour costs, lowering Local Property Tax for energy efficient homes, and reducing VAT on all carbon saving products. We also have a number of other recommendations to encourage local authorities to retrofit social housing stock.’’

The other pillars of HAI’s wider plan are:

• Re-introduce the Home Renovation Incentive scheme from 2020-2023 to encourage homeowners and landlords to renovate their properties
• Provide incentives for first-time buyers by including second-hand homes in the Help to Buy Incentive Scheme and allow banks to make more exceptions to the deposit and income rules
• Provide more incentives for training and upskilling employees in the sector and provide support for training in installing and fitting new green technology.

Photo: Martin Markey (left) with Hardware Association Ireland president Sean Moran. (Pix: Maxwells Dublin)