The SEAI provides grant funding to help homeowners in Ireland with the cost of making their houses and apartments more energy efficient.

Living on one of Ireland’s many offshore islands can make a lot of things more expensive, not the least of which is getting contractors out to perform construction and renovation works.

Fortunately, in recognition of this, the SEAI allows island homeowners to get grant funding at levels up to 50% higher than what is available for mainland properties.

James Dorrian, Managing Director of Energy Efficiency Ireland said, “Grants for home improvements aimed such as solar panels or insulation are extremely important if we want to make Ireland’s housing more energy efficient.”

“Cost is the biggest obstacle to having people take the plunge in carrying out retrofit works on their homes, so it is welcome that SEAI grants recognise that living on the islands can make everything more expensive.”

The additional funding is available for homeowners applying for Individual Energy Upgrades. This scheme allows people to apply for grants for singular upgrades, such as solar panels or wall insulation.

The Individual Energy Upgrades can be used for a wide range of measures which will make your home more energy efficient.

These include upgrades to the fabric of the building, with insulation in the walls or attic, or renewable energy systems such as solar panels or heat pumps.

The only home improvement grants for which island residents will not receive additional funding are for cavity wall insulation, attic insulation, and heating controls.

The islands where residents qualify for additional grant funding are:

“Houses on the islands are more likely to be older and in greater need of retrofitting to bring them up to modern standards,” James Dorrian said.

“It would be a shame to lose the unique character of island communities by having them fall to vacancy or dereliction. Or equally to have all of these older buildings replaced.”

Through the Individual Energy Upgrades Scheme, homeowners are also responsible for the entire grant application and installation process.

This differs from other avenues such as the One Stop Shop and Fully Funded Energy Upgrades schemes, where the process is handled by the selected contractor or SEAI.

Island communities also benefit from higher funding levels under the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use.

This scheme provides funding to refurbish properties that have been vacant for two years or more in order to use them as housing.

Ordinarily, the grant scheme offers €50,000 to renovate a vacant property and up to €70,000 to refurbish a derelict property.

However, people living on the islands can receive up to  €84,000 to renovate a derelict building or up to €60,000 for a vacant property.

The scheme does not cover any works to make a house more energy efficient which is already covered by the SEAI, but it does encompass many structural works which aren’t.