Limerick TD calls for more BER assessors for growing home energy needs

COUNTY Limerick politician Richard O’Donoghue has called for a relaxation in rules which currently prohibit Independent BER Assessors from carrying out a Home Energy Assessment.

Only an SEAI registered person is allowed perform such an assessment, which opens the door to the opportunity for grants and loans to homeowners.

Deputy O’Donoghue has now accused the government of operating a one-stop “cartel” on the matter.

“Is the government saying an independent BER assessor who is subject to the same regulations and training as a one-stop-shop assessor cannot do an assessment on a house to apply for a loan?” the Limerick TD asked.

“That to me is a cartel. That means the government does not recognise independent BER assessors. That is a breach of competition law if that is the case,” the Independent Ireland TD told the Dáil.

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“If there is only a one-stop shop dictating the rules to everyone, there will be very little competition. That means if I was the only building contractor available tomorrow morning, I could charge whatever I liked. That is wrong. How will we get retrofitting done if we have only one system to go through?”

Deputy O’Donoghue went on to claim that the same thing happened with pyrite, which affects around 1,300 homes in Limerick and Clare.

“The government only allowed certain engineers under its scheme to assess the houses,” he told the Dáil.

“There are engineers in this country who are indemnified through insurance with building records going back years yet the government says are not qualified to assess a building like that.

“We are talking about structural engineers, not textbook engineers, and they can get people out of a problem without looking at a book but by looking at the problem. Yet the government is closing the door on them as well.”

The County Limerick TD concluded by asking “how can we progress and make sure the retrofitting happens and that people’s houses get fixed fast enough when all the government does is to tie people up in bureaucratic paperwork and then it costs people an arm and a leg to get something done?”