John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the best value-for-money examples the State has is the roll-out of the disabled person's grant and housing adaptation grants, which are administered through local authorities. There are mobility aid grants of up to €6,000, housing aid for the elderly grants of up to €8,000 and housing adaptation grants of up to €30,000. There are discrepancies, however, between what can be allocated to local authority-owned stock and privately-owned stock. In light of inflation, we need to increase the funding envelope available for schemes for council-owned properties and privately-owned properties. It is probably now time those grant levels were reviewed because what is happening, and I have examples from my constituents, is people are approved for low-cost grants of up to €6,000 in order to get a wet room in their house for somebody who is getting older and frailer, and €6,000 is just not stretching to cover the cost of the works, even if they can get a contractor to price them.

It is now an opportune time to have a debate on the overall scheme. Are there changes we need to make to the local authority funding stream for this area? Is there merit in increasing the grant levels? Do we need to include other elements that are not already included in the schemes? I would appreciate it if the Leader could arrange for a debate on this topic, and perhaps a wider topic, in the coming weeks because this is now a pinch point for families who want to keep people in their own homes, which is, ultimately, a saving for the State. They need to be supported in doing so by having those grants available to them.