Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 June 2018
471. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will consider amending the better energy homes programme application procedure in order to ensure that the necessary checks on the national administration system for building energy ratings are carried out by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland before an approval for works can be issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26793/18]
View answerThe Better Energy Homes scheme is funded by my Department and administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The scheme provides grants towards the cost of a range of energy efficiency measures. Homeowners must use an SEAI registered contractor and SEAI recommend that homeowners obtain a number of quotes and compare the offers before choosing their contractor. While approval for works must be obtained from SEAI before works are commenced on the home, there is no check for a Building Energy Rating (BER) certificate before this approval is given.
However, any homeowner who receives SEAI approval for grant aided energy efficiency works on their home must get a post works BER certificate published for their home before they can receive payment of their grant. The SEAI maintains a list of registered BER assessors. https://ndber.seai.ie/Pass/assessors/search.aspx.
A grant of €50 is also available toward the cost of getting the post works BER certificate. Further details of the procedure are available on the SEAI’s website.
https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-grants/better-energy-homes/ber-grant/
