Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was good to hear the Taoiseach outline the details of one of the strongest public housing programmes in decades and I look forward to getting those final details for last year. One of the other commitments in Housing for All is to having a better fit of existing stock for those people who need it, including through reviewing the housing aid for older people grant, which many councillors work with their constituents to deliver as part of the local authority system, allowing them to make changes to bathrooms and accessibility mechanisms in their homes. Unfortunately, because of the rise in construction costs, it is getting more difficult to get the same value from those grants. Incomes have increased and I hope that in the same way that we have increased income thresholds for social housing, we might be able to do the same for housing aids. The Department has carried out a review and I hope a statutory instrument will be available soon. I have been putting pressure on the Minister in that regard. Will the Taoiseach confirm that there will be an increase in those grants?

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