Government’s insulation plans ‘a drop in the ocean’

Announcing the plans earlier this week, Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, claimed that, not only would the initiative provide a boost for businesses in the manufacturing and construction sector, but it would also go a long way towards meeting Ireland’s carbon reduction commitments.

However, according to the Renewable Energy Skills Skillnet (RESS), the funding promised amounts to just a “drop in the ocean” when compared to the true cost of making millions of homes and business premises energy efficient.

Citing figures laid out in a recent report by the Irish Institute for International and European Affairs, the professional body has argued that it would cost in excess of €2 billion to ensure that building efficiency ratings of 60 per cent are achieved by 2018.

RESS spokesman Johnny Flynn added, however, that “the government must be praised for going some way to meeting its commitments to energy efficiency”, though he explained to the Limerick Post that, at present, more that one million properties across Ireland are currently without any effective insulation.