€27.5m for ‘save and upgrade homes scheme’ all allocated within two days

The energy ministry on Wednesday said it is no longer accepting applications for people to receive grants as part of the “save and upgrade homes” scheme, as all the available funds have now been allocated, just a day and a half after applications opened. It said that interest in the scheme was “particularly high”, and that this had meant that after applications opened on Tuesday, the planned €20 million budget had already been reached, and that as such, an extra €7.5 million was then allocated to the scheme from funds which had been allocated but not used for previous government schemes. Now, however, with that amount also having been reached, the ministry says it is no longer accepting applications. It had initially been foreseen that applications would remain open until December 30, with the scheme having been devised to allow homeowners to undertake a range of projects on their homes to improve their energy efficiency. These include the installation of thermal insulation, the replacement of windows and doors, the installation of solar water heaters, the installation of high-efficiency air conditioning units, and the installation of solar panels. Beneficiaries were entitled to a maximum of €32,000 per household.