€20m Allocated Under Midlands Retrofit Scheme

A total of €20 million from Carbon Tax to eight local authorities under the Midlands Retrofit Scheme has been approved.

Under the proposed allocations Offaly, Laois, Kildare, Westmeath and Longford Local Authorities are to receive €3.33 million euro each and Roscommon, Galway and Tipperary are to receive €1.11 million euro each.

Works are expected to commence in Longford, Kildare and Galway in October and in Roscommon in November. The remaining four local authorities are currently commencing surveys.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD, welcomed the announcement.


He said: "This allocation will provide for energy efficiency renovations to approximately 750 local authority homes. This funding will also help provide an economic stimulus to the regions most affected by Bord na Móna and ESB closures.

"The Programme for Government contains ambitious targets for retrofitting and this scheme marks the start of that and will upgrade the energy efficiency of social housing stock in the Midlands. It aims to upgrade properties to B2 Building Energy Rating or cost optimal level with heat pumps where appropriate.

"The focus of the retrofit programme will begin in the midlands, where fossil fuel use is highest, and where communities have been negatively impacted by the closure of peat-fired power stations. It is expected that works to each dwelling will take approximately 3 to 4 weeks with minimal internal disruption to the occupants. I'd like to thank the Local Authorities for their work in this regard and look forward to this scheme progressing."