THE NEW FUND for all schools in Ireland to get solar panels to help with the rising cost of energy will be opening for applications, Government Ministers Norma Foley and Ossian Smyth are to announce. 

The Solar Panels for Schools Programme is aimed at heating schools in a more affordable manner. It is to be part of a climate focused shift in the annual school Summer Works Scheme. 

Before last winter, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) said that “prolonged underfunding” had put schools in a position where they had to fundraise to cope with rising energy costs.

Principals told The Journal that they face significant challenges in keeping their buildings heated, and that heating in prefab buildings is extremely costly. 

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Swords local councillor James Humphreys, from the Labour party, today said that the opening of the fund to applications will be a welcome step, but said the Government needs to go further in finding renewable and sustainable solutions for powering educational institutions. 

“We cannot overlook the fact that this allocation comes 14 months after its initial announcement. 

“The sluggish pace raises concerns about meeting crucial climate targets. While acknowledging progress, more ambition is required if we are to address the climate crises,” he said. 

The councillor pointed out that other countries in the EU have moved past the installation of solar panels on roofs and have progressed to utilising car parking spaces with “solar canopies”, adding that this is the stage Ireland needs to be at. 

Leader of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald yesterday spoke at the Solar Ireland Conference 2023. 

She said that the Government needs to develop “era-defining” collaboration between the State and renewable energy companies, and that solar power needs to be a “key component of that collaboration”. 

Government Ministers will be announcing further details about the Solar Power for Schools fund at a secondary school in Dublin this afternoon.