A Friends of the Earth Ireland protest outside Leinster House has called on the Government to compel landlords to insulate the “freezing” homes of their tenants. 

Buildings are responsible for an estimated 37% of Ireland’s carbon emissions and poor construction standards means many are cold and draughty. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Friends of the Earth spokesperson Clare O’Connor said renters are disproportionately likely to live in a property with a low energy rating.  

 “At the moment, Irish renters are paying some of the highest rents all across Europe to live in freezing cold, uninsulated homes,” she explained. 

“Because Ireland has no minimum standard for rental properties with regards to insulation. 

“Housing For All back in 2021 did commit to introducing these standards from this year. 

“We have about six weeks left of this year and we’re yet to see these standards be introduced.” 

An electricity bill. Picture by: Rosemary Roberts / Alamy Stock Photo.

Ms O’Connor added that Ireland is heading towards another “freezing” winter and that with energy prices still high, many are struggling to heat their homes. 

“We heard last week from Codema that 89% of renters are actually afraid to turn their heating on at the moment,” she said. 

“They did a poll all across Dublin and they found that renters in particular, two thirds of them really want to have insulated homes and would love to get involved in retrofitting. 

“So, it’s really not the time for the State to be rolling back on commitments when it comes to energy efficiency and insulation.” 

A radiator. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Ms O’Connor said Friends of the Earth is not calling for “huge, deep retrofits”, merely “basic levels of insulation”. 

“There are SEAI grants out there; you can get a grant for attic and cavity wall insulation,” she said. 

“There’s the bigger deep retofit grants as well, but there’s also low cost loans and there’s also a tax break for landlords who invest in energy efficiency measures.” 

When asked whether the costs of paying for insulation might lead some landlords to exit the market, Ms O’Connor said she did not think this would be the case. 

“If you look at the RTB data over the last number of years, landlord numbers have consistently continued to increase in Ireland,” she said. 

“So, landlord numbers aren’t really going down.”

Main image: An elderly lady wearing a fleece and holiding a hot water bottle. Picture by: Alamy.com.