Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I launched a pilot Home Energy Saving Scheme on 24 April with a budget of €5 million in 2008. The scheme is designed to encourage owners of older homes to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, including through insulation measures. 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 be delivered by Tipperary Energy Agency in North Tipperary, by Limerick/Clare Energy Agency in those two counties and by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) in Dundalk. SEI will also be responsible for a limited national element to the pilot scheme, together with co-ordination, financial control and evaluation aspects of the scheme.

The scheme will provide different incentives in each of the regional pilot areas in order to test their impact and effectiveness in encouraging householders to undertake energy efficiency investment works. These incentives will include levels of building energy rating part-payment, capital grants and advice on works required.

Investment in energy efficiency improvement measures has been shown to significantly reduce energy use and CO2 emissions. SEI estimates that a household participating in the scheme could save up to €500 in energy bills every year as a result of the energy efficiency investments undertaken. The 2008 pilot scheme alone is expected to result in reduced CO2 emissions of 6,000 tonnes per year, while the full €100 million scheme envisaged in the Programme for Government could be expected to yield CO2 savings of 175,000 tonnes per year.