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Sinn F\u00e9in has called for funding to assist homeowners \u201cleft in the lurch\u201d by the suspension of the Government\u2019s deep retrofit scheme.<\/p>\nSinn F\u00e9in has called for funding to assist homeowners \u201cleft in the lurch\u201d by the suspension of the Government\u2019s deep retrofit scheme.<\/p>\n
David Cullinane said it was \u201cunfair\u201d that homeowners were allowed to apply for grants when the government knew \u201cfull well that the money has dried up\u201d.<\/p>\n
The party\u2019s climate action spokesman said homeowners applying for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) administered grants should have been informed at the time of their application that funding would not be available.<\/p>\n
He added that the State should now be looking at \u201csupporting\u201d those individuals.<\/p>\n
The SEAI announced on Tuesday that the deep retrofit program was suspended.<\/p>\n
The three-year pilot scheme, which offered grants of more than 50% of the costs of a deep retrofit of older homes, was launched in 2017 by the Department of Communications.<\/p>\n
The SEAI said it stopped taking applications on July 19 and that only projects which had already been approved to carry out deep retrofits of homes would be given funding.<\/p>\n
It means homeowners who applied before the deadline of July 19 and were waiting approval for the grant will not receive any funding.<\/p>\n
The SEAI said people should not have started renovation works unless they had formally been issued with a grant. But many homeowners had already begun spending money on improvements.<\/p>\n
Mr Cullinane described the scheme as a \u201cfiasco\u201d and a \u201cdisaster\u201d and said people who made an application but were not informed that funding had dried up had a \u201cgenuine grievance\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese people applied in good faith, they applied because they want to retrofit their homes, they want to bring their homes up to a certain standard. The scheme was put in place \u2013 they were left in the lurch, contractors were left in the lurch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the way that a government agency and a government department should behave.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThere\u2019s a responsibility on the department and the SEAI to support these individuals\u2026 if they made these applications in good faith and clearly it wasn\u2019t communicated to them that the money had dried up, I think there\u2019s a clear failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cThe government put this scheme in place, it was a pilot scheme. It hasn\u2019t worked out. It\u2019s been a failure for hundreds of people\u2026 I think most reasonable people would see that as unfair and most reasonable people would say they should be supported in whatever way they can.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s to be reimbursed for the works that have already been done, or some other way to do it, then that\u2019s a matter for the department to look at but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair that people should be left in the lurch through no fault of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Otherwise, Mr Cullinane said it would send out \u201centirely the wrong message\u201d when people are being encouraged to do what they can to make their homes more energy efficient and meet climate change targets.<\/p>\n