I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 418 together.
The Government's Home Energy Saving Scheme, which is administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), provides grant assistance to homeowners for energy efficiency retro-fitting measures including attic and wall insulation, very high-efficiency boilers, heating controls and Building Energy Rating (BER) assessments. It is clearly important to strike a balance between value for money in relation to the cost of the investment in delivering energy efficiency savings measures and the value of those energy savings to the economy. SEI has therefore put in place a requirement that applicants to the Scheme install measures attracting a minimum grant payment of €500. The minimum grant threshold serves to ensure value for money to the Exchequer, while encouraging homeowners to take a holistic approach from the outset to improving the energy efficiency of their homes. The Scheme is proving to be extremely successful. There are currently 23,000 approved applications in the system, representing in total a take-up of over 48,000 measures. Roof and cavity wall insulation are proving the most popular. This clearly shows that householders are availing of the combinations of measures to secure grants.
In relation to the Deputy's concern about persons on low incomes, I would point out that the Warmer Homes Scheme is specifically targeted at low income households. Some €20 million has been provided to the Warmer Homes Scheme for 2009. This represents a very substantial increase on previous years. This Scheme provides for the installation of a range of energy efficiency measures at little or no cost to the homeowner. The measures include cavity wall insulation, attic insulation, boiler lagging jackets, draught proofing measures and Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). Details of this Scheme are available from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI). The Warmer Homes Scheme is expected to support energy efficiency interventions in up to 15,000 low income homes in 2009.
The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has also set aside some €25 million for two initiatives designed to address thermal inefficiencies in local authority dwellings. Of this, €20 million has already been allocated to local authorities to improve the energy efficiency of dwellings and apartment complexes, to a BER standard of C1. €5 million has been set aside to support a number of demonstration projects that will achieve a BER rating in excess of C1 and will inform the future improvement of the overall local authority stock.
