Tipperary Community Safety Project & STEP Insulation

Low Income Housing Programme

Around 60,000 Irish households are estimated to live in persistent fuel poverty and a further 160,000 or so experience intermittent fuel poverty. Fuel poverty has been defined as the inability to heat ones home to an adequate (i.e. safe and comfortable) level owing to low household income and poor, energy inefficient housing and also the need to spend greater than 10% of household income on fuel to achieve an acceptable level of comfort and amenity.

Fuel poverty has a major impact on the lives of the people affected – in terms of financial issues, comfort, health and the quality of the home. In general, low income householders are unable to afford the capital investment measures that would improve the energy quality of their homes. Income supports and fuel allowances do not address this structural deficiency in this part of the housing stock. Fuel poverty is a phenomenon experienced in private and social housing alike, both urban and rural. As energy prices continue to increase, the numbers of households experiencing fuel poverty could well increase. SEAI’s Low Income Housing Programme was set up to help establish and implement a national plan of action to systematically address the problem of fuel poverty .

Warmer Homes Scheme

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Core delivery is through the Warmer Homes Scheme. This scheme aims to improve the energy efficiency and comfort conditions of homes occupied by low-income households, and to establish the systems and growing the capacity in Ireland to install such measures. This approach is founded on a social employment delivery model. This model engages regional community based organisations to acquire and apply the skills to carry out the work – which includes attic insulation, draught proofing, lagging jackets, energy efficient lighting, cavity wall insulation and energy advice. For more detail read the SEI Warmer Homes leaflet . Eligible homes are identified locally via networks drawn from the statutory and voluntary sector. The focus is on owner occupied homes, which are more diverse and difficult to access than local authority homes, and the latter are catered for elsewhere.

The benefits of the programme will be seen in improved levels of comfort, economy and health in low-income households serviced under the scheme, and in the consolidation of national framework for addressing fuel poverty by structural energy efficiency actions.

Tipperary Community Safety Project & STEP Insulation

Tipperary Community Safety Project & STEP Insulation is a FÁS funded Community Employment programme aimed at providing services to Older and Vulnerable people of meager means. Care of older people is ongoing and is a growing necessity in an age when people are living longer and the neighbourliness of past generations is fast disappearing.The Muintir na Tíre Safety project is designed to meet the needs of older and vulnerable people in South Tipperary and indeed surrounding areas. For people who cannot maintain themselves, or afford to pay someone to maintain the general maintenance of their homes, the project is providing a painting, decorating and plumbing, electrical and carpentry service. It also provides a service to install Socially Monitored Alarms, Security Lighting, Door and Window Locks. .The Group is providing contract services Sustainable Energy Action Ireland to provide Attic and Cavity Wall Insulation to low income homeowners who suffer from Fuel Poverty. Applicants must be homeowners in receipt of National Fuel Allowance) This is a very essential and extremely important service as it ensures peace of mind and security for the Older and Vulnerable in our community. The benefits of the basic services provided to the people we cater for are incalculable when it comes to maintaining quality of life. In particular it enables people to keep in touch with older people and to alert other service providers as required.

The images below encapsulate some of the great work carried out under the Tipperary Community Safety Project & STEP Insulation programme.