Green grants to help homeowners make their houses more eco-friendly were launched today by Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Éamon Ryan.
Applicants can get up to €2,750 towards revamping their homes with energy saving measures like insulation, low emissions double-glazing and heating controls.
The €5 million euro scheme is initially available to householders in north Tipperary, Limerick, Clare and Dundalk but will eventually be rolled out across the State.
“Householders will save on their electricity and heating bills, they will use their energy more wisely and increase the re-sale value on their homes,” Mr Ryan said.
Under the scheme, homeowners will pay €100 towards an official building energy assessment, with the government covering the remainder of the typical €350 fee.
Further grants up to €2,500 will then be available for 30 per cent of the cost of works to make improvements to the house, as recommended by the energy-saving assessor.
Mr Ryan, who came up with the scheme, said the pay-out on retro-fitting of cost-cutting measures would pay for itself within just a few years.
“Of the 1.7 million homes in Ireland, it is estimated that up to one million require some investment to improve their energy efficiency,” said Mr Ryan.
“This scheme will support homeowners who wish to invest in their homes to bring them up to modern energy efficiency standards.”
The Green Party Minister believes the initiative will also be good news for the house-building sector which is coping with a fall-off in demand as a result of the economic downturn.
The Home Energy Saving Scheme will start work in 2,000 older homes in the pilot areas.
It will be administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), the Tipperary Energy Agency, the Limerick/Clare Energy Agency and the 2020 SEI team in Dundalk.
Householders will save up to €500 in their energy bills every year after works with around 6,000 tonnes of carbon saved in the first year of the scheme alone, it is estimated.
After the pilot scheme, a full €100 million scheme throughout the State is expected to cut greenhouse gas by around 175,000 tonnes per year.
“This scheme will help Ireland meet our climate change targets at the same time as assisting the householder with energy costs,” added Minister Ryan.
Homeowners can telephone a special hotline on 1850 927 000 or see website sei.ie for more information.
PA