Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Justice, Lynn Boylan, has accused the government of failing to seize EU funding opportunities for energy efficiency upgrades to public and private sector buildings.

Senator Boylan said:

“The government is no stranger to criticism from the European Court of Auditors. In 2020, an audit found – incredibly – over half of government spending on energy efficiency upgrades did not result in energy rating improvements.

“Rather than learning from that experience, it seems the State turned its back on EU funding opportunities.  A new audit by the European Court of Auditors found that the state is one of only three EU members not to plan any funds for enterprise energy efficiency projects.

“The EU programmes allocated €2.4 billion in total and the funds were divvied up between 12,000 projects across the EU. And yet, not a penny was allocated to Irish enterprises – businesses or public sector.

“The commercial and public sector make up 18% of primary energy use according to the SEAI. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to meet our climate targets. Electricity prices are skyrocketing and we know the best solution is to insulate our buildings.

“These opportunities were missed with a Fine Gael minister at the helm of Department of Climate Change. I want to know what changes Minister Eamon Ryan has made to make sure the mistakes of the past are not repeated, and chances like this don’t pass us by.”