Eamon Ryan has a plan that will put 4000 people to work during 2009. Better ten months of employment than nothing, right?50,000 homes can be made snug and cozy with the right sort of insulation, and since someone has to produce the insulation and someone has to transport it to a shop and someone has to ring up the sale....you get the idea.
With a government investment of 100 million euros, Irish grannies can be warmer than they've ever been. Roll out a few coils in the attic and there's all that expensive heat, trapped inside where it belongs. Why, the homeowner would save enough money to cover the cost of that insulation in seven years time.
Did you think the government scheme was meant to pay for the complete cost of insulating old homes? There's always a catch.
With people facing redundancies and mounds of debt, who is going to come up with the cash to pay for 70% of an insulating project? No matter if the government will give you 250 euros towards the cost. You still have to come up with the rest, so you're still out of pocket and can you really wait seven years to recoup the costs in heat savings? You might be emigrating in five years time and then what?
Labour's own Liz McManus thinks that those who have some money put away will jump at the chance to spend it on insulation if they had some tax incentive, so the proposed program doesn't go far enough.
Anyone with any savings these days is hanging on to it for dear life. Money for insulation? How about money for the mortgage and food and school uniforms and the credit cards that have balances unpaid?
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