Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage provides funding to local authorities under the housing adaptation grants for the older people and people with a disability schemes to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. These grants are available to people with an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability, and to older people who experience mobility issues or require essential repairs to their houses so they can continue to live independently at home. The detailed administration of the scheme, including assessment, approval, prioritisation and apportionment, is the responsibility of the local authorities. In 2022, almost €86 million in funding was made available to facilitate the payment of over 12,000 grants, which compares favourably to the target of over 10,700 grants.

The Department works closely with the local authorities to monitor spending and to achieve a full drawdown of available funding. This means that any underspends that arise on the part of any local authority can be redistributed to other authorities which have high levels of grant activity and the Department makes every effort to redistribute such funding throughout the year. The Department encourages all local authorities to ensure all applications on hand are processed to the degree possible for final payment to ensure optimal spend on their annual allocation. Throughout 2023, the Department has continued to approve additional funding to local authorities, with ten local authorities, including Louth County Council, receiving approval for additional funding so far in 2023, with further requests currently under review.

In 2022, Louth County Council received an allocation of almost €2.25 million and spent just over €1.35 million. During 2023, Louth County Council received approval for a further allocation of over €570,000 in Exchequer funding, bringing its total Exchequer funding to over €2.4 million. On foot of this additional funding, the Department has been informed by Louth County Council that it is preparing to reopen its schemes by mid-October, which is very welcome. I am sure the Deputy will welcome this news.

Housing for All commits to undertaking a review, as has been stated, of the range of housing grants available to assist with meeting specific housing needs for our ageing population and people with a disability. The report on the review of the housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability has been prepared by the Department. Among the areas which the review considered are the income thresholds and the grant limits. I think this report is due to be published very shortly.

This Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform on the recommendations in the review report. The objective of this engagement is to deliver on the emerging recommendations and ensure continued enhancement of this successful and important grant scheme. Any changes to the current scheme will be dependent on that engagement and on further funding being made available to the Department through the ongoing Estimates process, which has not concluded yet.

Deputy McAuliffe raised the number of applicants, including 203 in DCC, 194 in Fingal County and 95 in South Dublin County Council. There are significantly high numbers. Even in my local authority, demand always outstrips the grant funding available, recognising the 20% that must be made available through local authorities. This scheme is very important, however, and our Department, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, are determined to get this right and ensure it meets the changing circumstances, including the rising costs of materials and labour in particular. I think the report and, hopefully, some of the ongoing discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform will bring about a more positive realignment of these grant schemes.

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