Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will take the points in order. The Department commissioned a review of the housing adaptation grants in the past year. The Department has looked at it in great depth. The Deputy touched on the key areas, including income and grant limits. As it stands, housing adaptation grants are available to renters. We carried out a review of all the areas the Deputy touched on. A submission was sent to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. We are involved in detailed discussions about trying to get changes to the scheme because we are aware that there are a large number of factors are involved.

The Deputy referred to local authority housing. The three schemes are for private houses that are either rented or owned privately. In addition, local authorities can apply for a disabled persons grant, DPG. We provided a budget of €25 million. There is also an improvements works in lieu of local authority housing, IWIL scheme, which is not usually for a huge amount. Typically, it is where people who have a private house in poor condition. They can come to the IWIL scheme. I have not seen many applications in my time, but it is there. In 2023, the total expenditure of the scheme was €18.8 million. This is the scheme whereby local authorities are permitted, in the context of a delegated incentive, to commence work under the DPG scheme up to a value of €75,000. In addition to the available Exchequer funding, the local authority provides a 10% contribution in respect of the total cost. Those grants are available.

The Deputy referred to bedsits. If the local authorities want to do these upgrades, there is no reason they cannot apply to the Department for funding. There are particular schemes. Some projects may also fall under regeneration funding, as the Deputy is probably aware. There is a defined scheme for private property and one for public property as well. The Deputy may bring to me housing schemes he may be aware of if he wants me to see what is happening with the local authorities.

On the housing allocations, the structure that is being set up includes the strategy we have published and there was always a housing disability strategy group in each local authority. We have made those more defined. They are required to implement the 107 recommendations in the implementation plan I published last year. Ultimately, they are working. Part of that involves looking at the care packages. It is interagency, the HSE is part of that group. A defined process is in place, which includes the strategy and a detailed and fully up-to-date implementation plan we are keeping an eye on.

The Deputy also made reference to the recommendation. The medical disability form we all see, HMD form 1, was recommended by the Minister in bringing forward the social housing assessment statutory instrument. It provides for a variety of healthcare professionals. There is a requirement for contributions from two healthcare professionals to ensure the local authority has enough information to enable it to make informed decisions. There are also references to what happens when an applicant cannot provide relevant information and what alternatives are available to the local authority in order to satisfy itself of the situation. The Deputy is correct that different local authorities adopt different means. Some local authorities no longer accept a GP letter but instead look for a letter from a consultant. The issue falls very much within the domain of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, but it is something of which I am conscious because I deal with the issue on a daily basis. I deal with two different local authorities, one of which accepts a letter from a GP while the other does not. It is an issue. The general approach requires contributions from two healthcare professionals but local authorities have a discretion about what they can accept. It is something we are looking at but there is a difference between local authorities. They are given a guide but if they decide to provide a variation on that, it is their decision.