What Budget 2027 changed for home energy
Updated 15:20, 6 October 2026, from the Department of Finance's Budget 2027 Tax Policy Changes, the Budget 2027 Expenditure Report and the Minister for Finance's speech. Every measure below is now from a Budget document.
| Measure | Before the Budget | Budget 2027 | From | Source | What it means here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon tax on home heating oil (kerosene) and natural gas | €63.50 a tonne of CO2, due to rise to €71 on 14 October 2026 and €78.50 on 1 May 2027 (Department of Finance, TSG 26/09) | Confirmed. "Carbon taxes on kerosene and on natural gas will be reduced to €48.50 t/CO2 emitted until 2030." | Not stated; the Finance Bill sets the date. Held "for the lifetime of the Government" (speech) | Tax Policy Changes, 5.1 | What the cut is worth to your house, by house type, BER and county |
| Carbon tax on coal and other solid fuels | The same steps as oil | Confirmed. No rise on 14 October; instead "there will be a double increase in the rate on 1 May 2027 such that the rate increases from €63.50 per tonne of CO2 to €78.50 per tonne of CO2" | 1 May 2027 | Tax Policy Changes, 5.1 | The carbon tax on oil, gas and coal |
| Fuel allowance | – | Confirmed. "Increase the Fuel Allowance by €5 per week to €43 per week." "A €5 increase in the weekly Fuel Allowance rate, benefitting approximately 470,000 households" And: "An increase in the allowable means for single pensioners from €534 to €641 for Fuel Allowance" | 2027; the document gives no start date | Expenditure Report, Social Protection | Not a grant, but on SEAI's lists: Fuel Allowance 2027 |
| Energy credit | – | None announced. Not in the Minister for Finance's speech, the Tax Policy Changes or the Expenditure Report | – | Speech | Is there an energy credit? |
| SEAI home energy grants | The 29 September package (the tracker below) | No change to any grant amount. SEAI's news and grant pages show nothing new on 6 October (checked 14:20) | – | SEAI news | What your house gets today |
| VAT on heat pumps and solar panels | Heat pumps 9%, solar panels the zero rate (Department of Finance, TSG 26/07) | No change: the Tax Policy Changes list no VAT measure for heat pumps, solar panels or insulation | – | Tax Policy Changes | VAT on heat pumps and solar panels |
| SEAI's budget | – | Confirmed. "Provide a record capital allocation of €655 million for SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes (including the Solar PV scheme)" | 2027 | Expenditure Report, Climate, Energy and the Environment | More money for the schemes; no new amount for any one grant |
| Home Energy Upgrade Loan | – | Not mentioned in the speech, the Tax Policy Changes or the Expenditure Report | – | – | – |
| Tax on selling solar electricity to the grid | – | Confirmed. "The exemption from Income Tax, USC and PRSI for the microgeneration of electricity is being increased from €400 to €600 for certain profits arising to a qualifying individual who generates energy from renewable, sustainable or alternative energy sources for their own consumption." | Not stated | Tax Policy Changes, 5.3 | Solar panel grant |
Every figure above is from a Budget document, quoted with the document it comes from. Where a document gives no start date, we say so; the Finance Bill and SEAI's own pages will.
The carbon tax cut is the one that changes a bill now. Before the Budget, the next rise on home heating fuels was due eight days later:
Department of Finance, TSG 26/09: "The current Carbon Tax is €71 per tonne of CO2 emitted (t/CO2) for auto fuels and, due to the deferment of 1 May carbon tax increases, €63.50 t/CO2 on all other fuels. This will increase to €78.50 t/CO2 on 14 October 2026 for auto fuels and €71 t/CO2 for other fuels."
The Budget does the opposite for oil and gas:
Department of Finance, Budget 2027 Tax Policy Changes, 5.1: "Carbon taxes on kerosene and on natural gas will be reduced to €48.50 t/CO2 emitted until 2030."
The carbon tax cut on home heating oil works out what it is worth a year for each type of house and BER, from SEAI's BER certificates, and sets it against a heat pump after grants.
The tracker: each change, and where SEAI has it
Every home energy grant change since the Government's 29 September package, what was said, and how far SEAI has got: announced, on an SEAI page, or open for applications. We check SEAI's pages every day and add Budget measures from the Budget documents, not from reports. Last checked 8 October 2026.
| Change | Announced | Where SEAI has it |
|---|---|---|
| Boiler scrappage grant | 29 September | On SEAI's pages. Heat pump page and homeowner guide: "Where eligible, the additional €2,000 support will be applied automatically. No action is required from applicants." |
| Battery grant | 29 September | Open since 6 October. Solar panel page: "SEAI now also offer a €600 grant for a battery." |
| Solar grants for homes built before 2025 | 29 September | On SEAI's pages. Solar water page: "To qualify for the Solar Water Heating grant, the home must have been built and occupied before 2025." Solar panel page, since 8 October: "The house must have been built and occupied before 2025." |
| Up to €9,000 for solar and a battery, on certain welfare payments | 29 September | On SEAI's pages since 8 October. Solar panel page: "An enhanced grant of up to €9,000 for Solar PV (up to 4kWp) and battery (5kWh) systems is now available for eligible homeowners in receipt of certain Department of Social Protection payments." "Total solar PV grant capped at €8,400 without battery, or €9,000 with battery." |
| Solar and a battery in the Warmer Homes Scheme | 29 September | Announced. "Solar PV and battery will be offered as standard under fully funded Warmer Homes Scheme." Not yet on SEAI's Warmer Homes page. |
| Attic and cavity grants for HAP and RAS homes | 29 September | On SEAI's pages. Attic page, wall page and homeowner guide: "Higher fixed-amount grants for attic insulation and cavity wall insulation are available for eligible properties participating in the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme or the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS)." |
| Budget 2027 measures | 6 October | No new SEAI grant or grant amount in the Budget documents. The Expenditure Report: "Provide a record capital allocation of €655 million for SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes (including the Solar PV scheme)" Fuel Allowance rises; it is on SEAI's lists of payments. |
Two changes came a week early. On 16 September the Irish Times reported a battery grant and a boiler scrappage scheme, perhaps before budget day. On 29 September the Government approved both, and SEAI's grants page now says:
SEAI, individual energy grants: "New €2,000 boiler scrappage scheme, a battery grant and enhanced supports for households at risk of energy poverty among measures approved by Government."
The scrappage grant is paid with a heat pump grant, when an old boiler, storage heaters or a solid fuel system come out. It is not a grant for a new boiler. The boiler scrappage grant sets out what SEAI says, in its own words. SEAI lists the battery grant like this:
SEAI, individual energy grants: "Flat rate grant of €600 for batteries 5kWh or larger."
It opened for applications on budget day, and the battery must not go in before the offer: the battery grant has SEAI's conditions.
If your boiler has failed and you are fitting another one, the boiler scrappage article links to what you can still claim.
The rest of the package opened on 6 October too. The solar grants move to homes built before 2025, homeowners on certain welfare payments get a larger grant for solar panels and a battery, and homes rented under HAP or RAS get attic and cavity wall grants. What changed on 6 October has each one in SEAI's words.
Budget 2027 and your home, beyond the grants
More on what the Budget changes for a home's energy, each on its own page with the figures from the Department of Finance's tax papers:
- Heating costs from January 2027: what changes for oil, gas and coal, and when.
- The carbon tax freeze on home heating oil: what it is worth a year to your type of house, by BER and county.
- The carbon tax on oil and gas: due to rise on 14 October 2026 and 1 May 2027, and what that adds to a tank of oil or a year of gas.
- Is there an energy credit? What the Government did on energy costs this year, and what lasts longer than a credit.
Should I wait for the Budget before I apply?
Waiting is a choice, not a rule. What matters is when work starts, not when you apply. Three things SEAI has written down help you decide.
When grants went up, open applications got the new amount. It has happened twice this year. SEAI raised the attic, cavity wall and heat pump grants on 3 February, and its attic page said open applications would get the increase (we read it there in July; the line has since been taken down). Then came the boiler scrappage grant:
SEAI, heat pump systems: "Following the Government's announcement on Monday 29th Sept of the new €2,000 Boiler Scrappage Grant"
And SEAI said what happens to people who had already applied:
SEAI, heat pump systems: "SEAI can confirm that eligible homeowners with an existing Heat Pump Grant application will receive the additional support."
SEAI, heat pump systems: "Where eligible, the additional €2,000 support will be applied automatically. No action is required from applicants."
That is what SEAI did twice before. It has not said what it will do after this Budget, so read it as what happened before, not as a promise.
A grant offer lasts eight months.
SEAI, attic insulation: "You have eight months from the date of the grant offer to drawdown the grant."
You can cancel and apply again, if work has not started. If the Budget brings a new grant you want, SEAI's guide says:
SEAI, homeowner application guide: "Once no works have been started you can cancel the application at any point within the 8 months and create a new application."
Starting work before your grant offer is what loses the grant. That rule is below, under "If you are about to start work".
A grant that has only been reported cannot be applied for until SEAI publishes it. If it is published, we add it here with its source.
The grants as they stand today
These are SEAI's published amounts, from apartment to detached house. Last checked 2026-10-03. Each upgrade links to its own page: the amount for your house type and what SEAI asks for, in SEAI's words.
| Upgrade | Grant today |
|---|---|
| Attic insulation | €1,100 to €2,000 |
| Cavity wall insulation | €700 to €1,800 |
| Internal wall insulation | €1,500 to €4,500 |
| External wall insulation | €3,000 to €8,000 |
| All new windows | €1,500 to €4,000 |
| Heat pump | up to €10,500 for the unit in a house |
| Pipes and radiators for the heat pump | €1,000 to €2,000 |
| Boiler scrappage (new, 29 September) | €2,000 |
| Heat pump, radiators and scrappage together | up to €14,500 for a house, €11,500 for an apartment |
| Heating controls | €700 |
| Solar panels for electricity | up to €1,800 |
| Solar water heating | €1,200 |
The full list, with what each one needs, is on every grant, by house type.
If you are about to start work
Get grant approval before any work starts. That is SEAI's rule today. Work that starts before approval gets no grant.
SEAI, individual grants: "You must have grant approval in place before you start the upgrades."
A plan built today uses today's grants, each one with its source. Check my home to see what the grants add up to for your home and the order to do the work in. When SEAI publish new amounts, we change them here and in the plan.
How this page is kept
Each measure goes in the table at the top with what it was before, what the Budget says, when it starts and the document it comes from. A measure reported before the speech is marked "reported, to confirm" with a link to the report, and changes to the confirmed figure, with the document and page, once the speech or the Budget documents are published.