Greener Homes move to result in job cuts

JOBS in the sustainable energy sector have been put at risk by Energy Minister Eamon Ryan’s decision to close the Greener Homes funding programme until October, according to the Wood Energy Association, which says the suspension will have major implications for the industry.

The Greener Homes programme gives grants to consumers to allow them install energy-saving devices such as solar panels and biomass boilers in their homes. A total of 16,000 grants have already been issued since 2002, to the value of €47 million.

According to Wood Energy Association chairman James Kennedy, Mr Ryan’s statement came as a great shock. “The association requested a meeting with the minister as soon as he was appointed and, although that request has been acknowledged, a date is yet to be set. Neither I nor my colleagues in the association had any advance notice that such a dramatic announcement was to be made.”

He called on the minister to give a commitment to continue the promotion and funding of domestic sustainable technologies.

“The biggest impact of the announcement is on customers. Typically, Sustainable Energy Ireland will take around six weeks to approve a grant for the purchase and installation of a biomass boiler. Customers are now unable to apply for a grant until the re-launch of the Greener Homes programme in October.”

A spokesperson working in the industry said that the boiler business tends to be “pretty quiet” over the summer but the September/October period is when people decide on winter heating.

The Construction Industry Federation has called for the Greener Homes scheme to be extended to second-hand housing.

Announcing the revised scheme Mr Ryan said that Greener Homes has fulfilled its objectives and that it wasn’t being concluded.

He said he would be pursuing funding for a new phase when the Dáil resumes through the supplementary estimates process.