Making strides on energy efficiency

€100 million for energy efficiency projects, Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment Denis Naughten said today (Wednesday) as he announced his endorsement of the Energy Action Conference, to be held in Croke Park on March 6.

Minister Naughten said he is “determined to implement policies that can help people in fuel poverty make their homes more energy efficient and switch to cleaner fuels and noted that the additional funding will support critical fuel poverty programmes like the Warmer Homes scheme and the new Warmth and Wellbeing pilot which will demonstrate that improving energy efficiency can lead to wider benefits including less reliance on medication and health services”.

“Fuel poverty, energy efficiency and the air we breathe are closely related issues”, he added. This made the theme of the conference in Croke Park ‘Fuel Poverty and Climate Change’, all the more timely.

“Empowering people means giving them the means to reduce their bills, to cut the fuel they consume, and to make a contribution to a cleaner, healthier environment. The lesson of global warming is not that individual effort is useless, it is that each individual effort is essential.

The CEO of Energy Action, Brian McSharry, said, “Human activity contributes to climate change, so we need to change our behaviour, at micro as well as macro-level. Energy Action has been to the forefront in addressing the problem of fuel poverty in Ireland and has been doing so in sustainable and ecologically sound ways for over 25 years.”

Mr McSharry acknowledged the support of Electric Ireland, Bord Gais Energy and SSE Airtricity for the Energy Action conference.