IGBC offers critical welcome to budget 2027

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While welcoming the spending, the IGBC said that the budget “misses a critical opportunity to use public investment and procurement”.

The council, which also made a pre-budget submission, said that overall, the budget “contains welcome measures for retrofit, regeneration and housing delivery, but does not fully connect these investments to a wider strategy for decarbonisation, biodiversity and resilience.”

On the positive side, the IGBC welcomed a rise in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) budget from €640 million to €645.5 million to support residential and community energy upgrades. It also backed the enhanced renewable energy and retrofit grants announced on 6 October, including support for solar PV and a boiler scrappage scheme, and the increased grants for businesses installing solar thermal systems and heat pumps. The council said these would help cut energy costs and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It also welcomed the proposed derelict property tax in the forthcoming finance bill, alongside €350 million for urban regeneration, which it said could bring vacant and derelict buildings back into productive use, revitalise communities and reduce the need for new construction.

However, the IGBC also said that the modest increase in SEAI funding raises questions about whether investment is keeping pace with the scale of Ireland’s retrofit needs, and called for a sustained, long-term approach to give households and businesses the confidence to invest.

It also criticised the lack of extra investment or a coordinated strategy to unlock vacant and derelict buildings as a source of affordable housing, and warned that cutting the carbon tax on natural gas and kerosene risks weakening the price signal for moving away from fossil fuels.

The absence of dedicated, ring-fenced funding for nature restoration was also flagged as a concern, particularly given the link between biodiversity, planning reform and development certainty.

According to the council, Ireland needs a more joined-up, long-term approach that aligns housing and infrastructure spending with climate and nature objectives. Stronger public procurement requirements, sustained investment in building regeneration and renovation, adequate funding for nature restoration and consistent signals to transition away from fossil fuels would help ensure that public spending delivers lasting environmental, social and economic benefits.