Farmers are among the cohorts living in the least energy-efficient dwellings in Ireland.
In 2016, some 11% of farmers, 10% of persons aged 75 years or over, 8% of persons living alone and 8% of persons with a mobility difficulty lived in G-rated dwellings.
Offaly, Tipperary, Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon were the counties with the lowest energy-efficiency ratings.
This data comes from a new Central Statistics Office (CSO) report on Domestic Building Energy Ratings from a Social Perspective.
The report combines data from Census 2016 with the Building Energy Ratings published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
The report examines the social situation of persons cross-classified by the energy efficiency of their dwellings. The report will inform the energy retrofit programme being undertaken as part of the transition to a low-carbon economy, the CSO said.
A Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate rates a home’s energy performance on a scale between A and G. A-rated homes are the most energy efficient, while G-rated are the least energy efficient, according to the SEAI.
Younger persons and families tend to live in more energy-efficient newly-built homes, the report notes.
16% of households where the reference person was in the 35 to 44 age group lived in B-rated homes, while a further 47% lived in C-rated dwellings.
Households with a mortgage or those that were being rented were typically more energy efficient than dwellings that were owned outright – the proportion of households with a B rating was 17% for those with a mortgage and 12% for those being rented, compared with 9% for households owned outright.
Households where the reference person was in employment had higher B (15%) and C (46%) energy ratings.
In contrast, the proportion of households where the reference person was retired that had a B rating was 7% while 34% had a C rating.