Minister Foley welcomes €81 million in EU funding for school building retrofit

Minster for Education Norma Foley has today announced that 40 schools across five counties have been shortlisted for an energy retrofit programme as part of an €81 million EU funding package.

This is part of a package of funding totalling €240 million which Ireland has secured under the REPowerEU Programme. REPowerEU is the EU’s plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, boost the independence and security of the Union’s energy supply and accelerate the green transition.

A pool of 40 schools across five counties (Kildare, Meath, Offaly, Wicklow and Wexford) have been included in the initial assessment phase. Schools ultimately selected for inclusion in the programme will be given a deep retrofit to achieve a Building Energy Rating (BER) of at least B by installing heatpumps, LED lighting and mechanical heat recovery ventilation. The fabric and airtightness of the schools will also be upgraded and electric car chargers will be installed.

Minister Foley said:

The €81 million funding to the Department of Education represents the largest of the five investments included in Ireland’s funding allocation for its National Recovery and Resilience Plan. It will add to the number of schools being given deep retrofits under the existing school pathfinder decarbonisation and retrofit programme.

Minister Foley said:

The schools which will benefit from the retrofitting funding were part of a pilot phase of the Schools Energy Inventory project. This project covered schools in Kildare, Meath, Offaly, Wicklow and Wexford. It was completed with support from the European Investment Bank.

In developing the Schools Energy Inventory, each school is surveyed by an experienced construction professional using a survey tool developed by the Department of Education. Up to 130 pieces of data are collected at each school, including high level building areas and types of different fabric elements and information about lighting, heating and domestic hot water.

This data is entered on a tablet computer onsite, imported into the department’s Geographical Information System (GIS), then processed into a relational database which performs numerous calculations to determine a School Energy and Carbon Estimated Rating (SEACER).

The funding announced today will facilitate completion of the energy survey of all schools in the 21 remaining counties.

This consolidated database has significant potential to assist with future prioritisation of decarbonisation and investments in the school estate, enabling identification and targeted development of future school sector energy and decarbonisation programmes that will reduce overall reliance on fossil fuels and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.

The new funding for the extended pathfinder programme is targeted at schools of a scale and size that will enable the works to be completed over a single school term/summer holiday period. This means that the schools selected for inclusion are typically eight to ten-classroom primary schools and post-primary schools with similar floor area.

While 40 schools across the five counties have been selected for initial assessment, final decisions on schools to be included in the programme will take account of a range of factors, including the scope of works required in the individual school following detailed assessment by design teams, procurement considerations, and the need to remain within both budgetary and time parameters.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) entered into force on 19 February 2021. It finances reforms and investments in EU Member States made from the start of the pandemic in February 2020 until 31 December 2026. Countries can receive financing up to a previously agreed maximum amount.

REPowerEU is the EU’s plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, boost the independence and security of the Union’s energy supply and accelerate the green transition.

REPowerEU will be financed via the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

To benefit from support under the Facility, EU governments have submitted national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs), outlining the reforms and investments they will implement by end-2026, with clear milestones and targets. Member State Plans were required to allocate at least 37% of their budget to green measures and 20% to digital measures.

The RRF is performance-based. This means that the Commission only pays out the amounts to each Member State when they have achieved and verified the agreed milestones and targets towards completing the reforms and investments included in their plan.

Ireland’s overall RRF allocation is €914 million and consists of 13 investments, 9 reforms and their 105 associated milestones and targets. Payment is contingent upon both the achievement of the milestones and targets and supporting evidence to verify that achievement within each payment instalment.

The overall objective of Ireland’s NRRP is to contribute to a sustainable, equitable, green and digital recovery effort, in a manner that complements and supports the government’s broader recovery efforts.

The RRF allocation will be paid to Ireland in instalments. This payment request covers a total of 40 milestones and targets and amounts to €324 million.

These milestones and targets include investments in jobs and skills through the work placement experience programme, the commencement of retrofit works under the Public Sector Buildings' Energy Retrofit Programme, the signature of the contract for the building of the government data centre, the connection of schools to the broadband network and work to enable the future electrification of public transport in Cork.

This payment request also includes a series of reforms including reform on climate action, addressing the digital divide through a new digital strategy for schools and providing disadvantaged students with ICT equipment, reducing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship by introducing an ‘SME test’ in new legislation, and also a suite of reforms in areas such as pensions, housing and health.

REPowerEU is the EU’s plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, boost the independence and security of the Union’s energy supply and accelerate the green transition. REPowerEU will be financed via the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

The Irish REPowerEU programme has been developed to draw down our €240 million allocation (€90 million REPowerEU allocation plus and additional €150 million transferred from Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund (BAR)). Ireland’s REPowerEU programme, agreed by Government in February, consists of five investments and one reform.

Ireland’s modified NRRP, including the REPowerEU chapter, is now worth €1.15 billion (in grants) and covers 18 investments and 10 reforms.

RRF projects are pre-funded through the estimates processes and the National Development Plan with RRF allocated funding being recouped from the EU after the milestones and targets have been achieved and verified.

More information can be found on the government and European Commission websites.