Regulatory invisibility and energy poverty: EPC exclusion, Traveller mobile homes and Ireland’s low-carbon transition
By: Paul Lally, Ehiaze Ehimen, Mary Galvin and Ciara Ahern
References
- Ahern, C and Norton, B. 2019. ‘Thermal energy refurbishment status of the Irish housing stock’. Energy Build, 1–13. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109348
- All Ireland Traveller Health Study Team. 2010a. All Ireland Traveller Health Study: Summary of Findings. Available at:
https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/all-ireland-traveller-health-study-our-geels-summary-of-findings.pdf - All Ireland Traveller Health Study Team. 2010b The All Ireland Traveller Health Study: Our Geels. Demography & Vital Statistics. Technical Report 2 Part A. Available at:
https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/all-ireland-traveller-health-study-our-geels-demography-and-vital-statistics.pdf - Ballesteros-Arjona, V, Oliveras, L, Bolívar Muñoz, J, Olry de Labry Lima, A, Carrere, J, Martín Ruiz, E, Peralta, A, Cabrera León, A, Mateo Rodríguez, I, Daponte-Codina, A and Marí-Dell’Olmo, M. 2022. ‘What are the effects of energy poverty and interventions to ameliorate it on people’s health and well-being?: A scoping review with an equity lens’. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102456
- Boardman, B. 2012. ‘Fuel poverty synthesis: Lessons learnt, actions needed’. Energy Policy, 49: 143–148. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.035
- Bouzarovski, S and Petrova, S. 2015. ‘A global perspective on domestic energy deprivation: Overcoming the energy poverty–fuel poverty binary’. Energy Res. Soc. Sci., 10: 31–40. DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2015.06.007
- Bouzarovski, S and Tirado Herrero, S. 2017. ‘The energy divide: Integrating energy transitions, regional inequalities and poverty trends in the European Union’. Eur. Urban Reg. Stud. 24. DOI: 10.1177/0969776415596449
- Central Statistics Office. 2022. Census of Population 2022 – Preliminary Results [WWW Document]. Available at: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpr/censusofpopulation2022-preliminaryresults/housing/. Available at:
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpr/censusofpopulation2022-preliminaryresults/housing/#:~:text=A%20total%20of%202%2C124%2C590%20permanent,(%2D9%25)%20to%20166%2C752 (accessed 4.26.25). - Central Statistics Office. 2023. Survey of income and living conditions (SILC) [WWW Document]. Available at:
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-silc/surveyonincomeandlivingconditionssilc2023/ . - Connell, P. 2013. ‘Housing the People – from O’Growney Terrace to St. Mary’s Park’. In: Navan: Its People and Past. Journal of the Navan & District Historical Society. Navan & District Historical Society, 405–432.
- Cork County Council. 2024. Traveller Accommodation Programme 2025–2029. Available at:
https://www.corkcity.ie/en/council-services/public-info/publications/traveller-accommodation-programme-2025-2029/ - Crowley, Ú and Kitchin, R. 2015.
‘Academic “truth” and the perpetuation of negative attitudes and intolerance towards Irish Travellers in contemporary Ireland’ . In: Honohan, I and Rougier, N (eds.) Tolerance and Diversity in Ireland, North and South. Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp. 153–170. DOI: 10.7765/9781784997182.00014 - Essien-Thompson, E, Mulville, M, Keane, G and Ahern, C. 2026. ‘Forecasting Ireland’s retrofit trajectory: Overcoming policy gaps to meet climate action goals’. Energy Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115135
- EU. 2002. Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the energy performance of buildings. Official Journal of the European Communities, 46.
- EU. 2020. European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2020 on the European Green Deal (2019/2956(RSP)).
- European Environmental Bureau. 2024. Bearing the brunt: Roma and traveller experiences of environmental racism in Western Europe.
- Gmelch, G. 1977.
‘The Irish Tinkers: The Urbanization of an Itinerant People’ . Cummings Publishing Company. DOI: 10.2307/3317184 - Government of Ireland. 1963. Report of the commission on Itinerancy.
- Government of Ireland. 2006. European Communities (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2006. Available at:
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2006/si/666/made/en/print - Government of Ireland. 2020. Ireland’s Long-Term Renovation Strategy 2020.
- Government of Ireland. 2025. Climate Action Plan 2025.
- Johnston, D and Miles-Shenton, D. 2018. ‘The airtightness and air leakage characteristics of new UK holiday homes’. Building Serv. Eng. Res. Technol, 39: 343–361. DOI: 10.1177/0143624417748238
- Joyce, B. 2021. Irish Traveller Movement. Opening Statement, Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Houses of the Oireachtas. Available at:
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_housing_local_government_and_heritage/submissions/2021/2021-10-12_opening-statement-bernard-joyce-director-irish-traveller-movement_en.pdf - McArdle, R. 2021. ‘Intersectional climate urbanism: Towards the inclusion of marginalised voices’. Geoforum. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.08.005
- McManus, R. 2019. ‘Tackling the urban housing problem in the Irish Free State, 1922–1940’. Urban History, 46: 62–81. DOI: 10.1017/S0963926818000214
- McManus, R. 2025. The Free State Housing Programme [WWW Document]. Available at:
https://www.housingthepeople.ie/the-free-state-housing-programme (accessed 8.17.25). - Mohan, G. 2021. ‘Young, poor, and sick: The public health threat of energy poverty for children in Ireland’. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 71. DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101822
- National Traveller MABS. 2019. Key Facts on Energy Poverty Amongst Travellers Living in Mobile Homes/Trailers. Available at:
https://www.ntmabs.org/images/resources/posters/ntmabs-energy-report-factsheet.pdf - Newell, P and Mulvaney, D. 2013. ‘The political economy of the ‘just transition’.’ Geographical Journal, 179: 132–140. DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12008
- Office of the European Union. 2024. ‘Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 April 2024 on the energy performance of buildings (recast)’. Official Journal of the European Union, 1–68.
- Ombudsman for Children’s Office. 2021. No End in Site: An investigation into the living conditions of children on a local authority halting site.
- Quirke, B, Heinen, M, Fitzpatrick, P, McKey, S, Malone, KM and Kelleher, C. 2022. ‘Experience of discrimination and engagement with mental health and other services by Travellers in Ireland: findings from the All Ireland Traveller Health Study (AITHS)’. Ir. J. Psychol. Med., 39: 185–195. DOI: 10.1017/ipm.2020.90
- RSM. 2017. Review of Funding for Traveller-Specific Accommodation and the Implementation of Traveller Accommodation Programmes. Available at:
https://www.housingagency.ie/sites/default/files/22.%2017-11-21-Independent-Review-of-Funding-for-Traveller-Specific-Accommodation.pdf - Schwab, E. 2024. ‘Roma equality and inclusion in Europe’s green transition: Energy poverty in Czechia’. Hungary, Ireland and Slovakia. Available at:
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2838/5311806 - SEAI. 2022. Energy in Ireland – 2022 Report. Available at:
https://seai.ie/sites/default/files/publications/Energy-in-Ireland-2022.pdf - Simcock, N, Frankowski, J and Bouzarovski, S. 2021. ‘Rendered invisible: Institutional misrecognition and the reproduction of energy poverty’. Geoforum, 124: 1–9. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.05.005
- Sovacool, BK and Furszyfer Del Rio, DD. 2022. ‘“We’re not dead yet!”: Extreme energy and transport poverty, perpetual peripheralization, and spatial justice among Gypsies and Travellers in Northern Ireland’. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 160. DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112262
- Stamp, S. 2013. ‘Issues of Personal Finance within the Traveller Community’. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25757.61922
- Stamp, S and Kearns, M. 2019. ‘Accommodating ethnicity: Addressing energy poverty among Travellers living in mobile homes and trailers – an exploratory study’. Available at:
https://www.ntmabs.org/images/resources/publications/policy/ntmabs-energy-poverty-report.pdf - The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM). 2020. Input to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the topic of the General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bill. Available at:
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_housing_local_government_and_heritage/submissions/2021/2021-06-08_opening-statement-bernard-joyce-director-irish-traveller-movement_en.pdf - United Nations. 2015. Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Available at:
https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/publications/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf - United Nations Committee for Development Policy. 2018. Leaving no one behind.
- United Nations System Shared Framework for Action. 2017. Leaving No One Behind: Equality and Non-Discrimination at the Heart of Sustainable Development. Available at:
https://unsceb.org/sites/default/files/imported_files/CEB%20equality%20framework-A4-web-rev3.pdf - Visser, A. 2018. Spotlight – Traveller Accommodation: The challenges of implementation. Available at:
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/libraryResearch/2018/2018-10-01_spotlight-traveller-accommodation-the-challenges-of-policy-implementation_en.pdf - Walker, G and Day, R. 2012. ‘Fuel poverty as injustice: Integrating distribution, recognition and procedure in the struggle for affordable warmth’. Energy Policy, 49: 69–75. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.01.044
DOI: https://doi.org/10.66506/essp.1-264-26 | Journal eISSN: 2001-7960
Language: English
Page range: 3 - 3
Submitted on: Mar 20, 2026
Accepted on: May 29, 2026
Published on: Jul 10, 2026
Published by: European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee)
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
© 2026 Paul Lally, Ehiaze Ehimen, Mary Galvin, Ciara Ahern, published by European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee)
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.