Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond on this matter. I have experience, as, I am sure, have the Minister of State, the Acting Chairperson and many other Members, of dealing with older people and people with disabilities who apply for housing aid for older people and housing adaptation grants through local authorities. The amounts being given to people under these grants have not increased in recent years yet construction inflation has been off the Richter scale. The grants have remained static for several years but the cost of doing the work has increased dramatically.

During the summer, I dealt with a gentleman who uses a wheelchair. He got a housing adaptation grant of €20,000 to build a wheelchair-accessible extension to his house. As the quote he got when he initially applied for the grant was €32,000, the grant would have covered approximately two thirds of the cost. It took several months for the grant to be processed, however, and when he went to get the work done he was issued with a new quote that was 25% higher than the original. I approached the local authority to see if I could get the grant increased. I was told that sum was the maximum that could be given in the context of that particular grant. I dealt with another person, who was building an accessible bathroom at the back of his or her house. The maximum grant for that work was €8,500. The situation there mirrored what happened in the previous case.The quotations that were given during the application process were for a certain amount and when the grant was approved and it actually came to doing the job, the person was given a revised estimate about 30% higher. When the local authorities in question were approached, they had given the maximum they could give.

I am looking for the amounts to be increased and the budget to be increased, given that we are dealing with enormous construction inflation. It is just unfair because people who have been allocated money are in a position where they cannot go ahead and do the very necessary works simply because they cannot afford it due to the spiralling cost of construction.