SEAI accused of facilitating 'price gouging' in home retrofit scheme

The head of the SEAI's retrofit scheme Ciarán Byrne conceded a 50% rise in construction costs for a retrofit project in the space of a few months — a case that was raised in the Dáil — was 'very high'. Picture: iStock

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has been accused of facilitating “price gouging” following large increases in prices from contractors working on the national home retrofit scheme.

The head of the authority's retrofit scheme Ciarán Byrne conceded a 50% rise in construction costs for a retrofit project in the space of a few months — a case that was raised in the Dáil — was “very high”.

Under questioning from Wexford TD Verona Murphy at the Public Accounts Committee, Mr Byrne responded to questions about the case, which was initially raised by former communications minister Denis Naughten on Wednesday.

Mr Byrne said he believed the SEAI “has a handle on construction inflation” in relation to retrofit projects but Ms Murphy said a "53% increase from a recommended contractor sounds like gouging to me”.

She asked if it was the case that the SEAI had “no controls or vetting of contractors” participating in the authority’s ‘one-stop-shop' initiative.

The one-stop-shop sees contractors approved by the SEAI to assess homes where the owners are seeking to raise their Building Energy Rating to a level of B2, with grants available. 

There are currently 12 such one-stop shops in place nationally, the SEAI said.

The meeting heard the SEAI has a target of 500,000 homes to be retrofitted by the year 2030, with roughly 23,000 homes having been upgraded over the past two years.

The case Ms Murphy raised involves the SEAI’s Better Energy, Warmer Homes scheme, a project piloted by Mr Naughten in his former ministerial role, which the Roscommon TD had applied for when it went live.

He said between August and November of 2022, the price quoted for the retrofit of his home by an SEAI-approved one-stop-shop contractor had risen by 53%, far outstripping construction inflation, which is currently running at about 15%.

Mr Naughten had described the now-mandatory pre-retrofit home energy assessment as resembling a “three card trick”, given the costs quoted as part of that assessment in many cases around the country bear no resemblance to the final quote.

Those mandatory pre-assessments cost €750 and are typically paid by the customer, regardless of whether or not the retrofit is actually actioned, Mr Byrne conceded, albeit that cost is grant-aided.

Mr Naughten had further asserted the pre-assessment “is not worth the paper it is written on” and what the process had served to do in both his case and that of others “was to discourage us”.

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Elsewhere at the committee, the SEAI was rebuked by the State’s auditor Seamus McCarthy for a “serious transcription error” in its annual report, which suggested incorrectly that the authority’s financial outcome for 2021 was a deficit of €888,000.

Mr McCarthy said upon closer examination, the annual report sported “a number of other transcription errors “ in the presented financial statements.

“In this case, prompt presentation by the authority and the Department [of the Environment] of the correct financial statements is required, showing the correct audited figures,” he said.

The PAC’s chair Brian Stanley echoed those sentiments, saying there were “serious concerns” as to how “the SEAI submitted the wrong accounts, and as to how the department didn’t notice”.