Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 110: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the exclusion of persons on low incomes from the home energy saving scheme; the reason there is a minimum requirement that the grant amount in the first application must be €500 or greater; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this excludes those who only require a cavity wall insulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18719/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The Home Energy Saving scheme is one strand of the National Insulation Programme for Economic Recovery, under which funding is also provided under the Warmer Homes scheme and the schemes for social housing.

It is important to strike an appropriate balance between value for money in relation to the cost of the investment in delivering energy efficiency savings measures and the value of those energy savings to the economy. Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has put in place a requirement that applicants to the scheme install measures attracting a minimum grant payment of €500. The administrative cost for SEI of processing grants under the Home Energy Saving Scheme is relatively fixed, regardless of the amount of the grant payment concerned. SEI has worked to keep administrative costs of the Scheme to a minimum.

The administrative cost of disbursing grants for relatively low cost measures such as attic insulation or cavity wall insulation would be unacceptably high if these were permitted on their own. It is likely that many householders would return to the scheme at a later date seeking support for other measures, giving rise to multiple administrative charges on the scheme. The minimum grant threshold serves to ensure value for money to the Exchequer, while encouraging homeowners to take a holistic approach from the outset to improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

In regard to those on low incomes, it is the case that €20 million has been provided to the Warmer Homes Scheme for 2009, a very substantial increase on previous years. The Warmer Homes Scheme is specifically targeted at low income households. This scheme provides for the installation of a range of energy efficiency measures, including cavity wall insulation, attic insulation, boiler lagging jackets, draught proofing measures and Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) at little or no cost to the homeowner.

The Warmer Homes Scheme is expected to support energy efficiency interventions in up to 15,000 low income homes in this year alone. Further information on the Warmer Homes Scheme is available by calling 1800-250204, by emailing warmerhomes@sei.ie or at www.sei.ie/Grants/Warmer_Homes_Scheme.

The third strand of the National Insulation Programme for Economic Recovery involves the retrofitting of insulation and other measures to improve the energy efficiency in local authority housing stock. I understand that proposals for the implementation of this element of the programme are at an advanced stage of development and an announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is expected shortly.