A NEW GRANT allowing homeowners to upgrade their windows and doors is to be made available from 3 March 2026.

The fixed grant will be made available to homes that meet the standard suitable for a heat pump to be installed. This means the home must already have had insulation installed or the homeowner must have plans to do it at the same time as the windows and doors are being retrofitted.

These new grants, introduced by Minister for Climate and Energy Darragh O’Brien, are being seen as a way to make retrofits more accessible for households who may not be in a position to carry out a full retrofit in one go.

Currently, windows and doors grants are available under a deep retrofit programme, but the new scheme will see grants made available under the Better Energy Home Scheme. 

The move comes as part of Government efforts to improve the energy efficiency of Irish homes, with the Department of Energy also noting that it will help reduce energy bills for homeowners and improve comfort levels for households. 

As part of the scheme, €800 will be available per door, with a max of two doors per property, while a maximum grant of €4,000 will be available for windows.

The maximum window grant of €4,000 is for detached properties, while semi-detached and end-of-terrace homes can avail of a grant of €3,000.

Mid-terrace homes can claim €1,800, while apartments and duplexes can claim €1,500.  

Flour Mills

Separately, Cabinet is also expected to sign off on plans this morning which would see a €15 million scheme established to build more flour mills in Ireland. 

The move is being led by Enterprise Minister Peter Burke and comes as part of efforts to secure supply chains, reduce costs for bakeries and improve sustainability.

Currently, Ireland imports approximately 80% of its flour, largely from the UK and France. 

According to the Department of Enterprise, the Irish bakery market is worth €995 million, with 7,000 people employed in over 600 companies.

The move comes amid concerns about food security globally and increased shocks to global supply chains.

Renting reforms legislation

It’s understood Housing Minister James Browne will bring major rental reforms via the Residential Tenancies Bill 2026 for publication to Cabinet today.

Once enacted, the Bill’s provisions will come into effect for new tenancies created on or after 1 March 2026. All tenancies currently in operation will not be impacted.

Browne hopes the Bill will reform the rental market to attract new investment in the sector to increase the supply of rental properties, while also aiming to provide increased security for renters.

It will see any newly registered tenancies created after that date required to have a rolling six-year contract between the renter and the landlord.

At the end of the six-year tenancy, the rent can be reset and the property put back on the market. This means that the first series of rent resets will take place in 2032.

Under the rules, there will also be a nationwide rent cap, preventing landlords from raising the rent by more than 2% each year. New build apartments will be exempt from this cap

Emergency care

The Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is expected to bring an update on urgent and emergency care performance across 2025.

Attendances at emergency departments increased 4.4% in 2025 to 1.62 million with an average of 199 additional people per day attending our 29 emergency departments.

Despite this significant increase in demand, it’s understood Cabinet will hear that trolley numbers reduced by 10%.

The minister will also bring the Waiting Time Action Plan for 2026. This year’s Action Plan is fully aligned with an outcomes-informed approach and sets out six targets including, having 90% of patients to be waiting less than 12 months for first access to outpatient services.

With reporting by Eoghan Dalton