Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the effect the revision to the grant aid, available under the better energy home scheme, has had on the actual number of grants issued since the revisions were introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15630/13]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the number of grants indicating jobs carried out in relation to retrofit external wall insulation measures are increasing or decreasing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15631/13]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the level of grant support expected to be spent and the number of upgrade measures expected, in the period 2013 to 2016 under the better energy home scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15632/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 188 to 190, inclusive, together.

The Better Energy Homes scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) as part of the Better Energy Programme. The scheme provides financial assistance to households who wish to improve the energy performance of their homes. Fixed grants are allocated towards the cost of a range of measures including attic insulation, wall insulation, heating systems upgrades, solar thermal panels and accompanying Building Energy Rating (BER) assessment.

Exchequer funding of €18million has been allocated to the Scheme for 2013. It is anticipated that this funding will support the delivery of energy efficiency measures to approximately 15,800 homes in 2013. Since commencement in March 2009 the scheme has disbursed over €150m in grants and supported the installation of over 355,000 such measures in 139,000 homes. Over the past 4 years the scheme has undergone a number of reviews including the most recent in December 2011 where some of the grant amounts were reduced in line with falling market prices.

The following table is a summary of the number of measures applied for by year.

The table indicates that there has been a similar level of reduced uptake across all measures and not just those measures that have been adjusted in line with falling market prices. While it is difficult to ascertain with any certainty the reasons for falling applications a number of contributory factors include economic constraints for householders and recent milder winters. Additionally, the majority of interested homeowners may by now have already participated in the scheme. The SEAI is working on a number of measures to increase traffic to the scheme, including customer surveys and marketing initiatives.

In relation to the post 2013 position, the Programme for Government includes a commitment to roll out a Better Energy: Financing (Pay-As-You-Save) energy retrofit scheme for domestic buildings after 2013. This would see the current suite of Exchequer funded grants for energy efficiency measures, excluding the low-income housing retrofit programme, replaced by a comprehensive national energy efficiency scheme that would be open to households. This scheme would allow consumers to secure upfront financing for energy efficiency upgrades, the repayment of which would be funded from savings on their energy bill generated from the retrofit. It is anticipated that by providing up front financing under the new Better Energy: Financing model that this would stimulate further activity in the energy retrofit industry after 2013 and in the subsequent years.