[Press Release: April 24th, 2008]

Green Party Cllrs. welcome start of insulation grant scheme

Green Party Cllr Caroline Burrell has welcomed the first phase of a new energy saving scheme announced today by Energy Minister Eamon Ryan. The scheme will encourage and incentivise homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Cllr. Burrell said: “This is a very important and welcome scheme that will make a real difference to the energy rating of homes that take part. As well as modernising and adding value to a house, the new energy efficiency levels will save homeowners at least €500 a year. I would hope that householders in Bray would apply and avail of this Scheme.”

Householders who wish to avail of the scheme will have a Building Energy Rating (BER) assessor come to their house to give a BER rating and advise on the works that need to be carried out to improve energy efficiency. The Government will cover two-thirds of the cost of the assessment estimated at €350.

The assessor may advise that the house requires energy improvement work such as attic insulation, wall insulation, low emissions double-glazing, heating control or, in some cases, replacement of the boiler. The Government will then cover up to 30% of the cost of these works, to a maximum of €2,500.

Cllr. Ciaran O'Brien said, "Bray already has the highest energy effiency Policy in Ireland for new housing. This Scheme will complement Bray Town Council's exisiting Energy Policy for existing housing which the Green Party guided through the Council last year."

Cllr Matthews said: “€5 million is being invested in the first phase of the scheme, ahead of the roll-out of the full €100 million investment nation-wide. The first phase of the scheme will target older housing as these are most in need of energy efficiency retrofitting. The full €100 million scheme is expected to yield greenhouse gas savings of 175,000 tonnes per year. The first phase of the scheme will be administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland."

For further information please contact:
Caroline Burrell on 086-314 0453; email: burrell@wicklowgreens.org
Ciaran O'Brien on 087-206 0223; email: obrien@wicklowgreens.org
Steve Matthews on 086-277 2947; email: matthews@wicklowgreens.org


Note for Editors:

The Objectives of the Home Energy Saving Scheme are:

(1) To reduce energy use and CO2 emissions from the existing housing stock, and

(2) To support the development of the energy services industry in Ireland.

A budget of €5m has been allocated for the scheme in 2008.

The key features of the pilot scheme are:

  • Supports for the upgrade of energy efficiency measures in existing dwellings, including wall and roof insulation, low emissivity double glazing and heating controls (theremostatic radiator valves, timers etc);
  • Support linked to house specific Building Energy Ratings and Advisory Reports, and to specific gains in BER performance from investment undertaken;
  • Delivery of scheme supports via local energy agencies, energy service companies and by Sustainable Energy Ireland;
  • Supports varying in different pilot areas to allow testing of impacts;
  • Capital grants where available will be to a maximum of 30% of costs or the upper threshold (whichever is the lower).
  • Low interest loans (where applicable) will be provided directly by financial institutions.
  • Information and advice provision will be in the form of a Building Energy Rating Certificate and associated Advisory Report and follow up advice.
  • As a pilot scheme, various aspects will be evaluated to inform the roll-out of a full scale scheme in 2009, including impacts, effectiveness and value for money of the energy efficiency upgrade measures undertaken, the types of supports employed and the delivery mechanisms utilised.
Supports will be available for 3 levels of intervention:
  • Warm zone – upgrading one or two rooms in a house to improve efficiency and comfort in low occupancy contexts (upper capital grant threshold €1,500);
  • Whole house – householder undertakes whole-house action to meet a specific BER performance improvement target (upper capital grant threshold €2,500); and
  • Cluster – group of houses engage service providers collectively in order to achieve performance upgrades and higher value through economies of scale (upper capital grant threshold €2,000);.

The scheme will operate on the basis of 4 test projects, 3 of which will take place in limited geographical areas – North Tipperary, Dundalk and Limerick/Clare (excluding Limerick City). The 4th test project will operate nationally, but excluding the other test project areas. Different support measures will be made available in each test project area so that their impact may be assessed.

A specific objective of the scheme will be to support the development of the energy services industry in Ireland. The scheme will be managed locally in the North Tipperary area by Tipperary Energy Agency and in Limerick / Clare by the Limerick Clare Energy Agency. Local management of the scheme in the Dundalk area will be handled by Sustainable Energy Ireland’s Dundalk 2020 team. The 4th national test project will be managed by an energy services company under a contract for services.

In the event that more applications are received than can be accommodated in the pilot project, Sustainable Energy Ireland will shortlist applicants on the basis of quotas and / or random sampling techniques.

Applicants will be required to have their home assessed by a Building Energy Rating assessor and pre-pay a heavily subsidised BER fee of €100 towards the cost of this assessment. Supports will be conditional on completion of energy efficiency improvement works recommended by the assessor in the Advisory report.