Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. In November of last year the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, gave a commitment that the review would be published at the end of 2022. Where is the review? It is now six months late and we still do not have it. Two days ago the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, said he was looking at the review. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, now says he is looking at it. Everyone seems to be looking at it but people are not getting it.

Last year there was a budget of more than €24 million for adaptation grants but €7 million was returned to the Government from local authorities. The reason the local authorities could not spend it is that the grants are not enough. To get an insight into this I spoke to a builder who said that you could not build an extension for €30,000, and that anyone in government who thinks you could is crazy. He said it would be at least double that amount, if not more, depending on the location, the site and so on. Local authorities are giving back money to the Government because they do not have the resources to pay the extra. In other words, older people and people with disabilities do not have the houses they need.

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