Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If a person has a derelict house, he or she will get a grant of €70,000 to put it back into commission. If a person has a vacant home, he or she will get a grant of €50,000. For an elderly person or a person with a disability living in the home, the maximum grant is €30,000. That is an unacceptably low figure and has not been raised for some years, even though the money being allocated every year has risen because costs keep going up. There is a report somewhere in some Department from 2022 in relation to reform of the housing adaptation grants. That reform is absolutely essential. The report needs to be published before the budget. A golden opportunity awaits this Government to help older people now. It must seize that opportunity. It is sad that today's edition of the Irish Independent contains a shocking report to the effect that only 44% of people over the age of 65 are discharged directly to their own homes from acute hospitals and that 22% go to nursing homes. The remainder go to other people's homes to be looked after. This is a critical issue. The Minister has acted extremely well in her Department. Can she make sure that the Minister of State with responsibility in this area takes action?

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