A new Home Energy Saving Scheme has been announced by Energy Minister Eamon Ryan. The scheme will encourage and incentivise homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes in order to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

With an initial investment of €5 million, this regional pilot is designed to inform the roll-out of the full scale €100 million national scheme envisaged in the Programme for Government.

The Scheme will target older housing as these homes are most in need of energy efficiency retrofitting. It will begin its work with 2,000 homes in a regional pilot in North Tipperary, Limerick, Clare and Dundalk. There will be an additional strand, which will allow for clusters of housing throughout the country.

Householders will avail of a Building Energy Rating (BER) assessor to come to their house, give the home a BER rating and advise on the works that need to be carried out to improve energy efficiency. The homeowner will pre-pay €100 towards the cost of this assessment, with Sustainable Energy Ireland subsidising the balance. Approximately two thirds of the cost of the assessment, will therefore, be covered by the government.

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The assessor may advise that the house requires such work as attic insulation, interior or exterior wall insulation, low emissions double-glazing, heating control or a range of other energy efficient works. The government will then cover up to 30% of the cost of these works, to a maximum of €2,500. On completion of the works a follow-up energy assessment on the building will be undertaken so that there is a "before and after" test of what has been done.

The Scheme will be administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland and locally by the Tipperary Energy Agency, the Limerick/Clare Energy Agency and the SEI team in Dundalk. One of the aims is to get a grouping of houses to have the same work undertaken so that the cost to each individual householder comes down.

Launching the Scheme, Minister Ryan said, "Of the 1.7 million homes in Ireland, it is estimated that up to 1 million require some investment to improve their energy efficiency. This scheme will support homeowners who wish to invest in their homes to bring them up to modern energy efficiency standards. Such investment has been shown to pay for itself in energy savings in a few short years."

"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. The scheme will also be welcome news for the house-building sector."

The full €100 million scheme is expected to yield greenhouse gas savings of 175,000 tonnes per year.

(VB/KMcA)