Senator James Carroll has welcomed that €20 million is coming for an energy efficiency retrofitting programme for social housing in 2010.

Carroll added “there is approximately 145,000 social housing units in Ireland today.  However, there is a serious variance of energy efficiency within the current stock of housing.  We must deliver very significant energy efficiency improvements in this area.  Over the past 12 years in Government, Fianna Fáil has been to the forefront of delivering remedial works and regeneration programmes.”

“I am delighted to hear Minister for Housing Michael Finneran TD announced in the new Carbon Budget will have €20 million within the 2009 Social Housing Investment Programme to commence work on an energy efficiency retrofitting programme for the local authority housing stock seeking to achieve C1 Building Energy Rating,” Senator Carroll said.

“Retrofitting and energy efficiency activity is the future for the construction industry in the short and medium term.  The Department of Environment is developing a ten-year strategy with the objective of achieving the full retrofitting of the entire social housing stock.”

“This strategy is to be completed in the first half of next year and will provide a road map for the delivery of the programme over the next decade.”

“This coupled with last week’s announcement in the Budget of €130 million for 2010 to retrofit homes around the country is sending out a strong message that this Government is serious about tackling energy poverty and making this country more energy efficient. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan will launch in 2010 a national retrofit programme with a budget of €90 million of which €36 million will be ring-fenced for retrofitting households in energy poverty.  This represents more than double what was allocated for the same measures in 2009 and a seven-fold increase on 2008 allocations”, Senator Carroll concluded.

ENDS