This evening, Paul Murphy’s Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025 will be voted on in the Dáil. The BER Bill requires landlords to retrofit their private rented homes, on a phased basis, to reach B2 BER standard by 2030. The required retrofitting of private rented homes will reduce energy costs and improve comfort for tenants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said “My Bill will be voted on in the Dáil this evening just as tenants face months of winter cold.
“Three of every four private rented dwellings in Ireland have a BER energy rating below B. One in five private rented homes have a BER of E, F or G, the lowest energy ratings.
“Poor BER ratings mean that hundreds of thousands of tenants have to choose between paying to heat poorly insulated homes or cutting back on food or other essential items.
“It doesn’t have to be like this. A recent Government report found that households can save between €750 and €1,120 per year through deep retrofitting. But despite the minimal net cost of retrofitting to landlords, after grants and tax write-offs, most landlords have taken no action.
“As a result of inaction on retrofitting, Ireland has one of the highest rates of excess winter deaths in the EU because people cannot afford to properly heat their homes, and children living in cold homes are more than twice as likely to suffer from respiratory problems like asthma. But this evening many landlords from the Government benches are set to vote to keep renters in cold, damp and unhealthy conditions. This is wrong on every level.
“The Government should not leave renters in the cold, so I appeal to the Government to reverse its decision to oppose my Bill before this evening’s vote. Let the Bill progress into law as soon as possible to bring down energy bills, improve living conditions and reduce our greenhouse emissions”.