Scaling up home energy transformation

The Government’s National Residential Retrofit Plan 2026 sets out an expanded, system-wide programme to accelerate home energy upgrades, reduce emissions, and improve energy affordability, backed by record levels of capital investment and a suite of revised grant supports.

Published by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, the National Residential Retrofit Plan outlines how Government intends to scale up retrofit delivery to 2030, positioning residential decarbonisation as central to climate action, energy security, and cost-of-living resilience.

Anchored by four pillars – driving demand and activity, financing and funding models, supply chain and skills, and governance – the plan seeks to address persistent barriers to uptake, including high upfront costs, limited consumer awareness, supply chain constraints, and perceived complexity in the retrofit journey.

The plan builds on recent progress. Since 2019, almost €1.7 billion has been provided in SEAI supports, delivering 244,000 home energy upgrades, including 32,700 fully funded retrofits for households at risk of energy poverty and 18,000 heat pump installations. In 2025 alone, 58,128 upgrades were completed under SEAI schemes.

Driving demand

Government identifies consumer hesitancy and complexity as structural challenges to deeper retrofits. To counter these, a renewed national awareness and demand generation campaign is being funded with €4.2 million in 2026, emphasising comfort, cost savings, and environmental benefits.

The expansion of the ‘one-stop shop’ model remains central. There are now 28 registered one-stop shops providing end-to-end project management services, managing assessment, grant applications, contractor engagement, and final BER certification. In 2025, 14,016 home energy upgrades were delivered through this mechanism.

Community activation is also prioritised through the Sustainable Energy Communities programme, which enables area-based retrofit planning supported by SEAI-funded energy master plans.

Financing reform

Financial barriers are identified as a principal constraint to scaling delivery. The 2026 capital allocation of €640 million for SEAI residential and community schemes, including €558 million from carbon tax revenues, represents the largest annual investment to date. Under the Department’s 2026-2030 NDP Sectoral Capital Plan, up to €3.7 billion in carbon tax receipts will be directed towards residential energy efficiency.

Grant supports are being recalibrated from February and March 2026, while attic and cavity wall insulation grants under the Better Energy Homes Scheme are to be restored to 80 per cent of median costs. A new 100 per cent grant for attic insulation will be introduced for first-time buyers of existing homes, while households eligible for the Warmer Homes Scheme will be able to access fully funded attic and cavity insulation immediately through the Better Energy Homes Scheme to reduce waiting times.

Heat pump supports are also being strengthened. From February 2026, a fixed grant equivalent to approximately 80 per cent of median installation costs (90 per cent for island homes) will apply under the Better Energy Homes Scheme. In addition, the minimum energy uplift requirement under the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme and Community Energy Grant Scheme will be removed from March 2026 to enable heat pump-ready homes to participate without undertaking additional fabric works solely to meet technical thresholds.

The Government-backed €500 million Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme continues to provide loans between €5,000 and €75,000 at interest rates starting from 2.99 per cent, supported by a European Investment Bank guarantee and State subsidy.

Supporting inclusion

The plan places a strong emphasis on energy poverty and equity. The Warmer Homes Scheme, which provides fully funded upgrades to eligible low-income households, has invested €827 million since 2019, upgrading 32,754 homes.

Grant rates for approved housing bodies are set to increase to enable deeper retrofits in the social housing sector, while local authorities will be permitted to access Better Energy Homes grants for shallow measures alongside their deeper retrofit programmes.

Targeted schemes are also being advanced for traditionally built homes, defective concrete block properties, and medically vulnerable households requiring solar PV installations.

Supply chain and skills

Delivering retrofit at scale is framed as contingent on workforce expansion. A 2023 skills analysis identified the need for 22,779 additional entrants to the retrofit workforce by 2030. Approximately 13,254 jobs were supported by home energy upgrade activity in 2025.

Six nearly zero energy building centres of excellence are operational nationwide, with over 18,000 course enrolments since 2020. Apprenticeship reform continues, with 6,362 registrations in construction-related programmes in 2025, up 67 per cent on 2020.

Standards and research are also being developed, including an SEAI study examining the current heat loss indicator requirement for heat pump eligibility and a pilot of 100 high-temperature heat pumps to assess performance and cost implications.

Analysis

The residential building stock remains a significant contributor to the State’s emissions, with a substantial proportion of homes built before modern energy standards. Around 16 per cent of dwellings predate 1945, while many others require fabric upgrades to accommodate low-carbon heating technologies.

The 2026 plan aims to scale the retrofitting of the residential sector by combining revised grant supports, loan financing, supply chain development, and governance reform. The plan is also clear of the aim to accelerate delivery while maintaining a just transition for vulnerable households.

In his foreword to the plan, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien TD states: “By promoting retrofitting, renewable heating, and solar energy, we will make homes warmer, cheaper to heat, and less reliant on fossil fuels.”

The Minister adds that the measures outlined “will ensure that all households – including those most vulnerable – can participate in Ireland’s clean energy transition”.