Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 1022: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason an entire house must be refurbished in order to qualify for the Sustainable Energy Ireland grant and that the grant is not sufficient in comparison to the cost involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33498/09]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 1036: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding the green loan home energy scheme on a county basis; the amount of the €100 million budget which has been spent; the number of households that have availed of the scheme by category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34544/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1022 and 1036 together.

The Government's Home Energy Saving Scheme, which is administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), provides grant assistance to homeowners for retrofit energy efficiency measures such as attic and wall insulation, very high- efficiency boilers, heating controls and Building Energy Rating (BER) assessments.

While a householder is free to choose which measures to install in his or her home, for a first application the householder must undertake works attracting grant payments of at least €500, not including the BER grant. A householder installing only an efficient boiler with heating controls is eligible for a grant of €700, and so will exceed the threshold and be eligible for the Scheme. Likewise, a householder installing just internal or external wall insulation will qualify. For the lower cost measures such as roof or cavity wall insulation, the householder can qualify by combining just two measures, for example roof insulation and heating controls together attract a grant of €750.

To be eligible for the grant for wall insulation, the householder must insulate all external walls. Likewise, roof insulation must cover the full roof space. Partial solutions are not supported under the Scheme, as SEI's position is that they are not an optimal solution and they offer poor value for money to the householder and the Exchequer. The cost of installing the various qualifying measures is market driven. In the current competitive environment, householders can get best value for money by shopping around and comparing costs between contractors. The grants available under the Scheme represent a very generous contribution of around 30% of installation costs for the average home.