Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Byrne for raising this matter and I am happy to clarify it for him. Exchequer funding of over €37 million was provided in 2014 for the housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability. This was combined with a contribution of an additional 20% by individual local authorities, to give an overall spend of €46.3 million.

I am pleased to confirm that at national level, the 2015 amount will increase by some 10% to give a combined spend of €50.5 million. Individual allocations to local authorities will be made shortly. Allocations in 2014 were made on the basis of the level of grant activity by local authorities in 2013, and taking account of population statistics with a weighting applied in respect of the numbers of persons aged over 65 years. Also in making 2014 allocations, the Department ensured that no local authority received less funding than its 2013 allocation.

Historically, allocations have been based on the level of contractual commitments notified to my Department by each local authority. Local authorities were encouraged to maintain continuity in approving and paying grants and therefore commitments carried forward into the new financial year always had first call on the available funding.

This system rewarded those local authorities which kept the schemes open and continued to approve eligible applications. In other cases, local authorities adopted a more cautious approach and closed schemes when applications reached a certain level. The Department therefore sought to ensure that those applicants who had been approved for grant aid would receive it. In the past two years we have moved further towards a method of allocations which takes more account of population of each county, with a weighting towards those aged over 65, as the majority of applicants are in this category. My intention is that the 2015 capital allocations for the grants will be made in a way that continues to take account of the population figures in each local authority.

At local level, the detailed administration of these schemes, including the assessment, approval and payment of individual grants to applicants, is the responsibility of the relevant local authority. However, between the Exchequer contribution and its own funding, the amount available to Meath County Council in 2014 under this scheme was 73% higher than in 2013, and I anticipate a further increase in the full amount of funding for 2015.