Households across Ireland who rely on oil or kerosene heating could soon receive an extra €2,000 grant to scrap their old boiler, under new plans confirmed by the Minister for Energy, Darragh O’Brien.
Speaking from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, Mr O’Brien said he will bring the boiler scrappage scheme to Cabinet next week for approval. If it gets the go-ahead, the scheme is expected to come into effect from January 2027.
The new €2,000 payment is designed as a “top-up” on top of the existing grant of up to €12,500 already available through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) for households installing a heat pump. That existing grant includes up to €6,500 specifically toward the heat pump system itself, with the remainder going toward related works. Combined with the new scrappage payment, households replacing an old oil or kerosene boiler with a heat pump could potentially access support worth up to €14,500 in total.
The scheme is aimed at boilers that are near the end of their working life, though the exact cut-off point has not yet been finalised. Mr O’Brien said the details, including which properties and which ages of boiler will qualify, are still being worked out and will be finalised with Cabinet colleagues next week. Some reports suggest the scheme may apply specifically to homes built before 2021, though this detail has not yet been officially confirmed by the Department.
Explaining the thinking behind the scheme, Mr O’Brien pointed to the number of households, particularly in rural areas, that remain dependent on kerosene and home heating oil for warmth. “A lot of people in this country, particularly in rural areas, are dependent on kerosene and home-heating oil,” he said. “You have seen the increases in prices particularly in that area.” Figures previously cited by Oireachtas Climate Committee chair Naoise Ó Muirí suggest that around 700,000 homes in Ireland still rely on home heating oil.
Mr O’Brien also confirmed he will separately seek Cabinet approval for a new grant supporting domestic battery storage, ahead of Budget 2027. He described home retrofitting more broadly as “good for our economy” and “good for people’s pockets,” and said the elevated cost of fuel is a “global crisis” that the Government intends to address through what he called a “cost-of-living Budget.”
The proposed scheme follows a similar approach already used for cars. Under the State’s existing ICE2EV scrappage scheme, drivers with petrol or diesel vehicles from 2013 or older can currently receive a €5,000 grant toward scrapping their car, on top of the existing €3,500 grant for buying a new electric vehicle, bringing total potential support to €8,500. That vehicle scheme proved hugely popular, with its initial 2,000-applicant pilot filling up within an hour of launching earlier this year.
Not everyone is fully satisfied with the plans, however. The Green Party has raised concerns that other SEAI grants for home energy upgrades could be scaled back elsewhere in the same Budget, even as this new boiler scheme is introduced.
With Cabinet expected to discuss the proposal next Tuesday, homeowners considering a switch away from oil or kerosene heating should have much clearer details on eligibility, boiler age limits, and how to apply within the next week or so.
