Mr. Aidan O'Reilly:

I am puzzled by Senator Murnane O'Connor's reference to the stop-start nature of the funding that is provided under certain schemes. It may be a matter of financial management within local authorities because the Department does not hesitate or delay in issuing payments. We are at the halfway point of the year and approximately €22 million of the €71 million available this year has been drawn down. We would love that to increase to more than half of the total fund. We strongly encourage local authorities to draw down money on a just-in-time basis. We are not well served when claims are allowed to build up. I do not know how it would be good for them to wait three months before claiming funding and getting going again. We do not favour such an approach to these schemes. It does not serve anyone, particularly the clients, from a financial perspective. The question of mental health was raised at the meetings we had with local authority staff. We would be interested in any analysis of this area. When we were considering the housing adaptation grants, it came up as an issue that needs to be looked at.