John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 546: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his Department or if Sustainable Energy Ireland on behalf of his Department has plans to introduce a grant scheme for people to insulate their homes or improve the insulation of their homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18723/08]

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 550: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when he expects the new pilot home energy saving scheme to be rolled out nationwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18271/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 546 and 550 together.

I launched the pilot Home Energy Saving Scheme on 24 April. The pilot scheme, for which funding of €5 million is provided in 2008, is designed to encourage owners of older homes to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, primarily through insulation measures. The ongoing results of the pilot scheme will inform the roll-out of the full scale national scheme envisaged in the Programme for Government which I expect to take place next year.

The costs, impacts and effectiveness of the different incentives and delivery models deployed in the pilot scheme will be assessed on an ongoing basis by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and my Department. The costs and benefits of a scheme of the scale envisaged in the Programme for Government will be fully appraised in that context. Informed by the emerging outcomes of the pilot scheme I will be discussing the funding of a national roll-out of the scheme from 2009 with the Minister for Finance in the Estimates context.

Previous studies have shown that the private and societal benefits of investment in energy efficiency improvement measures greatly outweigh the costs. Preliminary estimates from SEI show that a household participating in the pilot scheme could save up to €500 in energy bills every year as a result of the energy efficiency investments undertaken. The pilot scheme 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.

My Department's Warmer Homes Scheme has been in operation for a number of years now and also provides support for insulation and other energy efficiency improvement measures. This scheme is managed by SEI and implemented by 18 community groups. The scheme specifically targets low income homes.

My colleague, John Gormley T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, introduced a new Housing Aid for Older People Scheme on 1 November 2007, which also provides supports for insulation works.