Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The community energy grant scheme is part of the Government's national retrofit programme. It aims to upgrade groups of buildings to high energy efficiency and renewable energy standards across communities in an efficient and cost-effective way. Capital funding of €45 million is provided for the scheme this year. The primary objective of the scheme is to support and maximise the number of home energy upgrades delivered. This includes upgrades to energy-poor, private, rental and approved housing body homes. Last year, 601 home energy upgrades were supported under the scheme, including 44 energy-poor homes and 68 approved housing body homes.

Non-domestic projects are also supported to encourage broader community engagement and mobilisation, and 290 non-residential projects were also supported last year. Other objectives include: building capacity by working with project co-ordinators on large-scale and complex projects; supporting cross-sectoral partnership approaches targeting public, private, commercial and community buildings; encouraging the retrofitting of rental properties; helping to develop the retrofit supply chain; building relationships with communities and businesses; and developing community project management capacity.

A number of changes to the scheme guidelines were introduced this year, including: support for projects focused solely on residential upgrades; improved supports to address the particular challenge of retrofitting multi-unit developments such as flat complexes, such as scaffolding and communal areas; and a pilot focused on area-based home retrofit projects which will encourage CEG project co-ordinators, local authorities and local energy agencies to collaborate, with an ethos of leaving no home behind.

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