Mr. Barry Lynch:

The overall initial allocation which was announced last year by the then Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, was of the order of €60 million. The local authorities have to find one fifth of that, which is €12 million. Fortunately, Meath County Council was able to fund that. We received an extra allocation of €1.9 million in total, for which we had to bring almost €400,000 into play. Fortunately our circumstances permitted it. However, I agree with Deputy O'Dowd's comment that 100% funding is required, because it is difficult, particularly for the smaller local authorities, to come up with matching funding. As my colleague, Ms McGuigan, has said, the €60 million represents the cost of not using the proper design in housing in the first place. Because of this, we have to deal with emergency situations. The allocation is vital money in that it can allow people to be discharged from hospital and return to their own homes.

The money is needed but we also need a system which will allow us to bring down the need for it over time. We need better design standards so that people are not faced with a situation where their houses are no longer suitable for their purposes. I agree with the suggestion that 100% funding should be available. The scheme was passed from the HSE to local authorities a number of years ago and the biggest issue now is the matched funding that local authorities have to come up with.