Written answers
Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Departmental Funding
Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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198. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the supports, funding schemes and grants which are available to non-governmental environmental and conservation organisations; the updates to same made in budget 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46770/19]
Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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There are a number of supports, funding schemes and grants administered directly by my Department which funding can be applied for by non-governmental environmental and conservation organisations. I have set out in tabular format the relevant details.
| Details of supports, funding schemes and grants | Updates made in Budget 2020 |
|---|---|
| EV Purchase Grant Scheme - purchase grant of up to €5,000 for new electric vehicles. | €30m has been allocated to this scheme in Budget 2020. The grant of up to €3,800 for businesses purchasing an electric car and the grant for private purchases of vans was discontinued. |
| Home Charger Grant Scheme - grant of up to €600 towards the cost of the installation of a domestic charge point for purchasers of new and second-hand electric vehicles. | Provided with €0.5m additional funding which will support its expansion to include the installation of charge points in apartment blocks from the first quarter of 2020. Funding for 2020 is now €4m. |
| Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) Phase 1 - Introduced in 2018 - Grant aid of up to of 30% of the installation cost of eligible heat pump technologies. Phase 2 - Introduced June 2019 - Operational support for eligible biomass boilers and anaerobic digestion heating systems via a multi-annual payment, for a period of up to 15 years, on the basis of prescribed tariffs. | €5 million total funding has been allocated as part of budget 2020. |
| In addition to the An Taisce Green Schools programme the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment also supports An Taisce Environmental Education Unit (Green Schools) in the roll out of its National Climate Change Action and Awareness Programme (NCCAAP) in schools and third level institutes. The aim of this programme is to increase awareness of climate change and promote climate actions nationally. This programme includes: -Teacher training - online and face-to-face training -Secondary school resources packs (Published in March 2019) -Primary school resources packs (under development) -Green schools Climate Action Week (Annually in October) -Climate Ambassador champions in schools, campuses and the community who will work as ambassadors’ for climate change to increase awareness of the causes and outcomes of climate change and undertake actions in their schools, campus or community more resilient to climate change by improving their local environment. Over 200 Ambassadors have been trained since 2018. | €263,000 was allocated under the Vote for 2019. Discussions are under way on the development of the 2020 programme, funding will be allocated based on the outputs decided. |
| Geological Survey Ireland Research Programme | None (no change since 2019) |
| Geoheritage grant scheme | €65k (same as 2019) |
| Geoparks | €75k (new for 2020) |
In addition to these my Department funds the Better Energy Communities and Sustainable Energy Communities schemes which are administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). These schemes can support the types of organisations referred to by the Deputy as part of wider community energy efficiency projects. Budget 2020 did not announce any updates to these schemes.
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