The authors of a report interpreted as casting doubt on the point of retrofitting have told TDs and senators they believe retrofits are essential.
Dr Muireann Lynch and Prof Niall Farrell, of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action on Wednesday.
Their appearance followed the publication last week of research that sparked public debate and political rows after it showed the national retrofit plan was far behind schedule and retrofitted homes were not delivering the energy or greenhouse gas emission savings predicted.
They told the committee these concerns remained, but the point of their report was to examine the limitations of the retrofit plan and suggest complementary approaches to reducing household emissions.
“Anyone serious about climate action says we need the whole residential sector electrified [through retrofitting gas- and oil-heated homes with electric heat pumps],” Lynch said.
“All we were trying to say was we are not going to get there as fast as we need to.
“Even if we retrofit 500,000 houses [the national target], we have about two million homes in the country, so what will the others be doing?
“We have 700,000 homes that burn kerosene. That’s a really high proportion. It would be a lower-carbon solution if they burned gas instead.”
She said previous research showed 13 per cent of oil-reliant households would willingly switch to gas if it was available but the connection fee was a deterrent.
She acknowledged concerns that switching fossil fuel reliant homes to another form of fossil fuels could lead to fossil fuel “lock-in” but said it was an option for reducing emissions in the short term.
“It’s if we don’t get to electrification on time,” she said. “It’s about additional supplementary bridging measures.”
[ Ireland falling well short of its retrofit targets, ESRI report findsOpens in new window ]
Lynch and Farrell said the data showing energy savings from retrofitting did not live up to their promise came from international studies because little Irish data was available.
They said they needed real-life, real-time data to track how households used their heating and other appliances and when and for how long they opened and closed doors and windows but this would require multiple sensors and permissions.
“We would love to get better granular data about what’s happening in homes pre- and post-retrofit but it is incredibly difficult,” Farrell said.
“When data is personal, it takes several years to set up all the approvals and permissions.”
The committee’s chairman, Fine Gael TD Naoise Ó Muirí, suggested it could be made a condition of retrofitting grants that energy usage data be provided in return.
Lynch said that would be a big help. She added she would also like people who get electric vehicle grants to be required to supply their Eircode for future research.