Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs how persons benefited from the limited application period for the community supports for older people scheme in October 2009; when this scheme will be reopened as promised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41556/09]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the uptake of the recently closed community supports for older people scheme; the number of applications received; his plans to open this grant again in 2010; if he has plans to develop the support offered under this grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41636/09]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 325: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number of persons that benefited from the limited application period for the community supports for older people scheme in October 2009; when this scheme will be reopened as promised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41716/09]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 71 and 325 together.

Deputies will be aware that I suspended funding for the scheme of community supports for older people earlier this year pending the completion of a comprehensive review of its operations by my Department. That review is now completed and is being considered. Pending the establishment of new arrangements, I lifted the suspension at the end of September to afford community groups the opportunity to apply for funding for equipment, particularly monitored personal alarms and monitored smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. However, requests for other items of security equipment are being funded in the usual manner.

In order to facilitate the installation of equipment before Christmas, groups were advised that applications received before 21 October would be given priority. The scheme continues to receive applications and my Department will process as many as possible so that the funds provided can be fully drawn down by community groups to allow for the timely installation of equipment.

At the end of last week, some 300 applications had been received. Of these, 93 applications to the value of €240,000 have been approved and are either paid or in the process of being paid. These funds will provide equipment for 822 older persons. I estimate that applications in respect of a further 1,800 older men and women will be funded in the coming month. Applications received prior to the suspension of the scheme in respect of 3,695 older men and women were funded earlier this year. In total, some €1.5 million has been approved to date in respect of equipment for approximately 4,500 older people.

I have received a report of the review carried out by Department officials and will give consideration to its recommendations over the coming weeks. These focus on the need to reinforce the local community support ethos of the current scheme, to simplify the administrative arrangements and to take account of other developments since the scheme was introduced in 1996. Subject to available funds and with the co-operation of community groups, the current scheme will continue to process applications until a new scheme is introduced in early 2010.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Last year on 6 April, the Minister, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, announced funding for this scheme. The following day was budget day and the scheme was closed down. The Minister announced the re-opening of the scheme on 6 October. Eleven working days later my office rang the Department to discover if applications were being accepted and was told the scheme had closed. I believe it is open again but is dealing only with applications made before 21 October.

I want a commitment from the Minister of State, Deputy John Curran, that in the budget of 9 December this scheme will not be closed again. I also want a commitment that those persons who made an application after 21 October will have their applications dealt with and that funding will be in place for them. Elderly people are worried. They do not know whether the scheme is open or closed. The Minister of State is pulling wool over their eyes. He is using the old Fianna Fáil spin again - it is open one day, closed the next. It is a bit like the grant for older people. In my county alone, every Deputy was out announcing the wonderful scheme and asking elderly people to go and apply for it. The county council has €7 million in approvals and got €600,000 from the State a few weeks ago. Is the scheme open or closed? Will it stay open or will it be closed in the budget in December?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I ask the Minister of State to reply briefly because I want to include another Deputy.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I will try to give Deputy Ring straight answers. First, the scheme is open. Second, 4,500 people have availed of it to date. Third, I have applications on hand, received prior to 21 October in respect of approximately 1,800 people. As I said at the time, it is my intention that all these will be dealt with before Christmas. There were 840 pre-registered groups and 20 additional ones, totalling 860. It was a concern of the Department that each group would have an equal opportunity to apply for priority and be dealt with in a timely fashion. If that were not the case, what happened in the past was that groups would apply and six months later their application would be dealt with. We are dealing with these on an ongoing basis in a timely fashion.

There is a review and, as I stated in my response, pending the implementation of the new scheme those applications that are being and have been received will be processed. As I said time and time again, 860 groups were written to specifically and asked to forward priority cases. If they did so before 21 October, those applications were to be processed before Christmas. We are on target to honour that commitment.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Will the review be made available to Opposition spokespersons or will it be placed in the library? Deputy Ring mentioned grants for disabled people. In Kildare, €3.5 million was committed to that scheme, although €5 million was not committed to in respect of senior citizen grants. The grant in question must be dealt with positively in the forthcoming budget. People in our communities have a fear now that was never there before. Due to the banking crisis, some of them are hoarding their money at home and this is creating major problems. As Deputy Ring did, I ask that this scheme be underpinned in the forthcoming budget to provide funding for all organisations interested in having these facilities implemented.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Is the funding there?

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Regarding the 1,800 people I mentioned, there is funding. Next year's budget will bring a figure, whatever it may be. That is part of the budgetary process as the Deputies know well. It is intended that the scheme will run next year. We have done a report and there are various recommendations and so on to consider. I have just received them.

While the scheme is generally working well, there are areas of concern in that it is not being administered equally across the country. Another interesting fact that arose concerns the piece of technological equipment in question. Most Deputies will know that equipment of this nature, whether one's computer, mobile telephone or LCD screen, has become cheaper in recent years but we have seen no reduction in the price of the equipment in question. There are a number of such issues that must be addressed.

I reiterate-----

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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What about the report?

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I have no problem making the report available in any format. I ask the Deputy to give me an opportunity to deal with the matter for a week or so first.