All policies / Buildings / IRL_P0017
Better Energy Homes
Programme affecting the Buildings sector, using a subsidies & finance mechanism; in force since 2011.
About this policy
The Better Energy Homes scheme by SEAI provides homeowners in Ireland with both financial incentives and support for energy-efficient upgrades. Through the scheme, homeowners can access grants to help cover the costs of measures such as insulation, heating system upgrades, and renewable energy installations. Under the With Existing Measures scenario, it is assumed that new savings continue to accrue each year until 2030.
About this type of instrument: subsidies, tax allowances and finance
High upfront costs, credit constraints and high implicit discount rates deter investments that pay back over time. Subsidies also support markets and supply chains for new technologies.
- Directly addresses capital barriers
- Politically acceptable and visible
- Can be targeted at low-income households
- Free-riding: some supported investments would have happened anyway
- Uptake often skews to higher-income groups
- Fiscal cost per tonne can be high
Measurement in this dataset. OECD financing indicators give only general context for specific programmes (a partial match). Most programme rows therefore rely on assumed timing. Bindingness is scored 0.5 (financial incentive).
Year by year
Filled markers use a matched OECD score; hollow markers use assumed timing. Shaded bands show the policy's status. Select a year on the chart or the slider to see how its intensity is built up.
Source records in the EEA registry
All EEA records linked to this policy. Records under the "with additional measures" scenario describe planned extensions; they are retained for traceability but are not treated as historical policy.
| PaM | Name as reported | Status | Scenario | Period | Ex-post kt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Better Energy Homes (With Existing Measures) | Implemented | With existing measures | 2011 | 395 |
| 50 | Better Energy Homes (With Additional Measures) | Planned | With additional measures | 2025 | – |
Data-quality notes
Methodological notes recorded for this series, grouped by theme.
OECD match quality
- The matched OECD indicator describes the broader category, not this specific programme.
- Missing OECD values are left missing and never filled from other years.
Scoring conventions
- The unweighted equal-weight index remains positive before the policy starts; use the gated version for timing analysis.
- Bindingness is a normative score from the study rubric, not a measure of observed compliance.
- Coverage is an ordinal scope score, not a measured share of activity or emissions.
Timing assumptions
- The policy has no reported end date; its status after the reporting date is reconstructed as continuing.
Selection context
- Policies were selected using recent (2024–2030) assessments, which can introduce retrospective selection bias.
Sources
- European Environment Agency. Reporting on national policies and measures, Ireland (report 1849), PaM 17. https://pam.apps.eea.europa.eu/
- OECD. Climate Actions and Policies Measurement Framework (CAPMF) database, Ireland, 1990–2023. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ag]=OECD.ENV.EPI&df[id]=DSD_CAPMF@DF_CAPMF (accessed 25 September 2026)