Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I have listened very carefully to the points made by the Senator. The funding available for these grants in 2023 has been increased by almost €2 million on the original 2022 provision bringing it to a total of €83 million. Given the real benefits of these schemes to people who rely on them to continue living their lives independently in their own homes, our objective is to continue to provide further increases in funding every year as part of the Estimates process. Further increases will be in line with commitments made under the Housing for All plan and on foot of the engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on the recommendations on the review report.

I will clarify something I learned when I got the initial answer. It is also possible for local authorities to apply for additional funding during the course of the year, and some local authorities have done that. That is a piece of information that may be useful. However, I will certainly bring the points made by the Senator back to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien.