Ireland Unveils €2,000 Boiler Scrappage Grant and Boosted SEAI Home Energy Supports from 6 October

Ireland has announced a major expansion of its home energy supports: from 6 October 2026, Irish households can claim a new €2,000 boiler scrappage grant to switch from fossil-fuel heating to a heat pump or another renewable heating system, alongside a new €600 grant for home battery storage and wider eligibility for solar panel supports. The package of Ireland SEAI grants targets households most exposed to high energy costs, with government figures showing potential savings of up to €878 a year.

The measures were announced by the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, and will be delivered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). According to the government’s announcement, all of the new measures will open from 6 October 2026, subject to final implementation arrangements.

New €2,000 boiler scrappage grant

The centrepiece is a new boiler scrappage scheme paying €2,000 to eligible homeowners who replace a fossil-fuel heating system — oil, gas or LPG boilers and solid-fuel burners — with a heat pump or other renewable heating in a home built before 2021. The support is effective immediately for eligible applicants, and every eligible homeowner with a heat pump application already in progress receives the additional €2,000 automatically, without reapplying.

The scrappage payment stacks with the existing heat pump grant of up to €12,500, meaning combined state support for moving away from fossil-fuel heating can reach up to €14,500, according to SEAI’s published summary.

Battery storage and wider solar eligibility

A new €600 grant for domestic battery storage joins the scheme, aimed at homes that add a battery alongside solar panels, with savings of up to €137 a year, according to SEAI’s summary. Solar PV grant eligibility is widened considerably: homes built and occupied before 2025 now qualify, up from the previous pre-2021 cut-off, opening the scheme to large numbers of newer estates for the first time.

Lower-income households on qualifying social welfare payments — including Fuel Allowance, Working Family Payment, One-Parent Family Payment, Domiciliary Care Allowance and certain Jobseeker’s, Carer’s and Disability payments — can receive up to €9,000 for a 4 kW solar system plus a 5 kWh battery, with savings of up to €878 a year. Under the fully funded Warmer Homes Scheme for fuel-poor households, solar photovoltaic systems and batteries are now offered as standard.

Insulation supports for rented homes in HAP, RAS and RASP tenancies are also made more generous: attic insulation grants rise to between €1,400 and €2,500, and cavity-wall insulation to between €900 and €2,300, per SEAI’s published figures.

Savings, demand and who benefits

The government says households could benefit from savings of up to €878 per year depending on the measure installed, and up to €1,120 per year where upgrades are installed together as a whole-home upgrade. For businesses, the government states that availing of the enhanced solar PV supports could reduce annual energy costs by up to €300,000 per annum.

Minister O’Brien said the package would focus on households most exposed to high energy costs, including those at risk of energy poverty, medically vulnerable customers, and lower-income homeowners and renters.

“The only long-term solution to high energy bills is to stop relying on the fossil fuels that drive them, and the best way to do that is through retrofit,” said SEAI chief executive William Walsh, adding that the authority had seen unprecedented demand, with some offerings experiencing a rise in applications of more than 200 percent.

The package follows the work of the National Energy Affordability Taskforce, established in June 2025, which is finalising an Energy Affordability Action Plan expected to be published in the coming weeks, according to the government.

Key facts

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