The Government is acutely conscious of the need to move away from over-reliance on fossil fuels as our primary source of energy and towards sustainable energy sources. I strongly advocate and agree with this position.

The Government has introduced an exciting Greener Homes Scheme to meet public demand in this area. A grant-aid scheme of up to €27m for domestic renewable heat technologies was launched in late March by my colleague, Minister for Natural resources, Noel Dempsey TD. The scheme was agreed in last year's Budget and is part of a multi-annual finance package of €65m for renewable energy that will also include grants for a range of renewable heat, electricity and transport initiatives.

The "Greener Homes" scheme will allow individual householders, for the first time ever, to obtain grants for the installation of renewable technologies including wood pellet stoves and boilers, solar panels and geothermal heat pumps.

Grant aid of €1,100 to €6,500 will be provided depending on the individual technology used. The scheme will be rolled-out over a five-year period and will potentially support the conversion to renewable energy in up to 10,100 homes. By its final year, it is expected to save energy equivalent to 54,000 barrels of oil per annum and 23,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum. This is equivalent to meeting 100% of the heating needs of 7,100 homes from renewable energy, or removing 6,700 cars off the road.

This scheme recognises that despite the fact that renewable energy systems have low running costs, high equipment and installation costs have excluded many people from making the switch. This scheme recognises the contribution that individual householders want to make in reducing energy demand, and will provide concrete support for them to make the switch to low cost, low emission heating systems.

This scheme is also particularly relevant in the context of rising fossil fuel costs. The package also provides funding for a wood chip / pellet boiler programme for small to medium scale enterprises, Combined Heat and Power (a process in which electricity is generated on-site and the heat from that process captured and also used), and a biofuels capital grants programme to underpin a €205m excise relief programme.

There has been intense interest in the domestic grants scheme since it was first announced that a scheme was to be developed and almost 1,200 enquiries have already been received from members of the public and renewable energy suppliers. Details of the scheme and other valuable information is available on the Sustainable Energy Ireland website (www.sei.ie).

Additional and very useful information concerning schemes aimed at small businesses can be found on the Department of Marine, Communications and Natural Resources website: www.dcmnr.gov.ie

Technology Grant Amount Wood Chip or Pellet Boilers €4200 Wood Chip or Pellet Stoves €1100 Wood Chip or Pellet Stoves with Back boiler €1800 Heat Pump - Horizontal Ground Collector €4300 Heat Pump – Vertical Collector €6500 Heat Pump – Water (well) to water €4300 Heat Pump – Air source €4000 Solar (per m2 to a max of 12m2) €300