Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The allocation for these grant schemes in 2014 has been increased. The allocation in 2013 was €34.2 million. The allocation for 2014 is €38.4 million, which has been reflected in the allocations made to individual local authorities in recent days. The Deputy is right in that, in many cases, applications for these grants took a long time to process. For this reason, when making allocations last February, the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, announced her intention to review the operation of these schemes so as to ensure that they were targeted at those most in need. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government requested the Housing Agency to establish a review group of local authority officials to review the grant schemes. The terms of reference were to examine the current housing grants and to make recommendations as to how the grants could become more focused and targeted at those most in need. Members of the review group included representatives from the County and City Managers Association, CCMA, and the National Housing Practitioner Network, departmental officials and Housing Agency representatives. Consultations took place with organisations representing older people and people with disabilities.

This year's allocation has been increased. Savings in the housing capital budget identified mid-year enabled the Minister of State to make additional funding of €2.2 million available in 2013. It is her intention to apply the same rigour to her budget in 2014 and to use savings in other areas to make additional allocations later this year.

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