The number of Irish families unable to heat their homes has more than doubled in the past year because of low incomes, high fuel costs and poor housing, according to new research.
Friends of the Earth say they are being failed by Government plans to tackle the energy crisis and reduce fossil fuel reliance. The leading Irish charity commissioned 32 experts across housing, poverty, climate and energy, to probe grants available to help people retrofit their homes alongside policies to protect the vulnerable.
But the research found subsidies are skewed towards more well off homeowners, leaving many at risk of energy poverty out in the cold. Clare O’Connor, Energy Policy Officer at Friends of the Earth, said: “Families who can’t afford to pay their energy bills aren’t in a position to invest in expensive retrofitting measures.
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“Government should be going much further to make sure these families have access to the benefits of warm homes and lower energy bills. Retrofitting for low-income families in inefficient housing needs to be a top priority.
“Much more investment is needed in state-led retrofitting programmes so they can reach more families, specifically the SEAI Free Energy Upgrade scheme and the Local Authority Retrofit Scheme for social housing.” University College Cork Sustainable Energy Professor Hannah Daly agrees.
She told us: “Home heating is a huge expense for many people, who are suffering in the current energy crisis. Many people are tied to using smoky fuels like coal and peat for warmth, but these cause air pollution that damage the health of people in the household and in the local area.
“Homes heated by fossil fuels are also a large source of greenhouse gas emissions that we have committed to cutting to zero by 2050 to limit catastrophic climate change. There is a great opportunity to address those three major challenges – energy poverty, air pollution, and climate change – together, by making clean and low-carbon energy affordable for everyone. If that is not done, people will be left behind in our path to sustainability and we will not have a just transition.”
The Government has committed to halving carbon emissions, partly through retrofitting 500,000 homes by 2030. But Friends of the Earth says their research shows policy changes are needed to address rising energy poverty and make homes more energy efficient.
Jerry Mac Evilly, Head of Policy at Friends of the Earth, said: “Ireland does not have sufficient safeguards to protect against price volatility as a result of the heavy role of polluting fossil fuels, like gas and oil, in home heating and Ireland’s energy mix. While warmer months may now offer a temporary reprieve for some, there is a major risk the situation will deteriorate later in 2023 given high inflation and continued high energy costs.
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“It’s clear household fossil fuel dependence cannot be allowed to continue. The research report shows a change in approach at all levels of Government is urgently needed to ensure Ireland responds to the climate and energy price crisis in a manner that respects Sustainable Development Goal pledges to ensure ‘no one will be left behind’ and to ‘reach the furthest behind first’.”
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