A Leitrim school principal is giving a cautious welcome to the announcement by the government of solar panel grants.
The government announcement says the money will be distributed through the Summer Works Scheme and 100% of the cost of solar panels will be covered.
Speaking on the Let's Talk programme this afternoon, Alan Kelly, who's Principal of Schoil Mhuire Naofa in Carrigallen says while they obviously welcome the news, the scheme is likely to present a significant challenge in terms of time, materials and contractors.
He says the weeks of the summer can be relatively short for schools like Carrigallen who run a scheme every July, and he's also concerned that there would be enough people available to carry out the actual work.
''Like any school we welcome anything that will help reduce our energy bills and our energy consumption but I suppose I'll have to wait and see how this is going to be rolled out. I don't think we're going to get every school done in one summer period. And then I suppose the other issue is there simply couldn't be enough contractors or materials to retrofit every school in the four or six week period during the summer holidays.''
