John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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501. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the funding the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland provided under the better energy communities scheme by county and local authority in each of the years 2012 to 2016 to date. [18421/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) administers the Better Energy Communities scheme on behalf of my Department. The scheme aims to support and encourage community based partnerships to improve the energy efficiency of homes, businesses and community facilities in a local area. To date the scheme has supported the upgrade of more than 12,000 homes and several hundred shared community facilities, from sports clubs to community centres and childcare facilities  

Under this year's scheme, €20 million in grant support has been awarded to 38 community groups. This will provide for energy efficiency upgrades to more than 2,600 homes and almost 300 community and commercial facilities.  The total investment in energy efficiency, including funding from local communities themselves, is almost €48 million, which will support an estimated 700 direct and indirect jobs right across the country.

Due to the nature of community projects, many individual projects cross county and Local Authority areas.  I have, therefore, set out in the tables details of each project that has received funding from my Department under the scheme from 2013-2016, along with the areas where works were delivered. The scheme was only operated on a pilot basis in 2012. My officials, and SEAI, would be happy to consult further with the Deputy to confirm that this material provides sufficient information and identify how best to supply any further data required.