Ireland remains “significantly” behind its 2030 targets for the retrofitting and energy-optimisation of households, with more than 40% of owners showing no interest in changing their homes.
New figures from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) show that just 11.5% of the targeted levels of deep retrofits on Irish properties had been carried out by the end of 2024. Heat pump installations were even further adrift, with just 3.5% of target completions having been achieved at the same date.
The ESRI said that even if Ireland accelerates deployment of its retrofitting programmes, it is still “unlikely to meet targeted numbers”. Using the Building Energy Rating (BER) system of heating efficiency is not likely to be a reliable source of future emissions cuts, as that rating is based upon predicted energy use rather than actual use, it said.
Retrofitting involves tackling household emissions by optimising energy efficiency in homes, such as adding insulation, modern glazing, and the installation of modern heating systems, heat pumps, or solar panels.
Ireland is currently aiming to reduce household greenhouse gas emissions by up to 56% by 2030, primarily by retrofitting 500,000 homes to a BER rating of B2 or better, along with the installation of 400,000 heat pumps nationwide.
The report said that fully 40% of Irish homewowners had declared no interest in making changes to their home’s properties or layout, with barriers towards uptake listed as the high costs of any such work, the disruption of doing so, and other “behavioural barriers”.
In terms of the BER system meanwhile, the report found little change in energy consumption between properties with different ratings.
The ESRI said that particular trend can be explained by the behaviour of people living in a home with an improved rating, with those living in a property which has become easier to heat often increasing their energy usage in response.
“This means that energy efficiency investments may deliver smaller emissions savings in practice than originally expected,” the ESRI said.
The report suggested that “supplementary policies” may be required in order to aid Ireland in matching its objectives, in addition to retrofitting alone.
Examples of such policies could include switching homes from oil or solid fuels for heating to low-carbon alternatives, targeted grant supports, and “automated demand flexibility” via smart energy controls.
Addressing the report’s findings, senior research officer with the ESRI, Dr Muireann Lync,h said that the review serves to highlight “substantial shortfalls in delivery and discrepancies in performance metrics to date”, while underlining that additional policy measures “may warrant consideration”.
