Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 150: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of grants provided by her Department, or agencies of her Department, which are available to redundant construction workers in relation to sustainable energy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42278/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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There are no specific grants available from my Department in relation to sustainable energy. Financial and non-financial assistance may be available through Country Enterprise Boards (CEB) to projects meeting the standard requirements, though such assistance is more generally provided to projects in the manufacturing or internationally traded service sectors. However, any viable business proposal coming forward for the establishment of a commercial enterprise will be assessed against the Boards' normal range of evaluation criteria.

All of the CEB operate to the same criteria in relation to the assistance which they can offer i.e. they can support the establishment and/or the development of enterprises provided that the projects, which should generally be in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector, have the capacity to achieve commercial viability and which over time may develop into strong exporting entities. In addition, the CEB deliver a range of non-financial supports to improve management capability development within micro-enterprises designed to help new and existing enterprises to operate effectively and efficiently so as to last and grow.

Support available for redundant construction workers in relation to sustainable energy is mainly provided in the form of training/retraining through FÁS. FÁS are providing retraining opportunities for construction workers regarding energy efficiency and other similar areas. Specifically they provide training programmes in the installation and maintenance of sustainable energy systems (eg solar, biomass, geo-thermal heating). FÁS will also provide retraining opportunities for redundant construction workers in emerging areas within the construction sector, including environmental activity and compliance and regulatory work.