Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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On International Women's Day, it is appropriate that Senator Maria Byrne will lead the Seanad in our first piece of business today.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, for coming to the House to discuss this important issue. For the past number of years I have been working closely on applications for grants, mainly with older people and people with disabilities or illness. It has been a beneficial grant, of which people can avail, to replace a bath with a shower, to put in a wet room, central heating, or other amenities covered under the scheme. I was in a house recently that still does not have a bathroom. It has an outside toilet. People are still living in poor conditions. I looked at the amounts of money available for the grant, and then the rising costs. Listening to builders and to people who have applied for the grant, it is clear that costs are rising all of the time. We realise the Government has been good in supporting businesses and people with rising costs, but it is time to carry out a review of these grants. The amount of money people receive only goes part of the way to covering some of the supports that need to be put in place. I ask the Minister if there are any plans within the Department to carry out a review in light of the rising costs. I look forward to his response.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I also start with best wishes for International Women's Day. I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I know from my own county that this a hugely beneficial grant scheme. I recognise the challenges raised by the Senator, particularly as construction costs continue to rise. My Department provides funding to local authorities under the suite of housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs, which also facilitates early return from hospital stays. The grants include the housing adaptation grant for people with a disability, the mobility aids grant and the housing aid for older people grant. These are 80% funded by my Department, with a 20% matching contribution from the resources of the local authority. These grants are available to people with an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability, and to older people who experience mobility issues or require essential home repairs so they can continue to live independently. The schemes are means-tested and operate on a sliding scale, with the highest percentage grants available to those with the lowest incomes and vice versa. The detailed administration of these schemes, including assessment, approval, prioritisation and apportionment between the three schemes, is the responsibility of local authorities. In 2022, additional funding was secured from wider savings across the vote for the scheme resulting in €85.9 million expenditure overall. This facilitated the payment of over 12,000 grants which compares favourably with the target of over 10,700 grants. The funding available for these grants in 2023 has been increased by almost €2 million to a total of over €83 million when accounting for the local authority contribution - continuing the year-on-year increase since 2014. Housing for All commits to undertaking a review of the range of housing grants available to assist with meeting specific housing needs, both for our ageing population and people with a disability. The demographics are showing that we are living older and living longer. I think that is fantastic, and we need to meet the challenges that puts in front of us. A report on the review of the housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability has been prepared by my Department. Among the areas the review is considering are income thresholds, grant limits, application and decision-making processes, including the supplementary documentation required. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will be giving careful consideration to the review report and will make a decision on the recommendations in the report as soon as possible. On the Senator's query on the retrofitting grant scheme, I know that the scheme is under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, which is under the auspices of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The Department can provide further details on SEAI schemes. I recognise the challenges with these grants, particularly given the increase in construction costs. That is why the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, was minded to carry out this review. The findings of that review will be useful in informing how we adapt and tweak these grants in order to be in a position where they continue to be impactful, which they have been across the country. It is critically important that we are able to review them and ensure they are fit for purpose.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. It is good news that the Department is carrying out this review and I thank the Minister of State and his Department for that. I am sure we will hear about the recommendations down the line. This is the right thing to do and there has to be an increase. An area that needs to be looked at is that sometimes people might need a downstairs bedroom built on but it is hard to qualify for those grants. It is wonderful that 12,000 people have received grants over the last year and that this is an increase on what the Department had targeted. The extra money is also welcome. However, that area where a person needs an extra grant also needs to be looked at. Maybe that could be separated out from what has been available to date. I look forward to the review coming out and to hearing the recommendations.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the students from Sharavogue Junior School in Glenageary who are in the Gallery. I hope they have a good day and it is great to see them all here on International Women's Day. Enjoy your visit to Leinster House.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Cuirim fáilte rompu; it is great to have them here. Listening carefully to the points the Senator made, I know from my local authority that these grants are transformative. They improve the quality of life of older people and the critical thing is to keep people living in their homes for longer and in an independent way. That is why the grants have been hugely impactful in the ten years since this grant was brought in. Given the benefits this scheme provides to people who rely on them to continue to live their lives independently in their homes, our objective is to continue to provide further increases in funding and I outlined the increase that was made this year. That is critically important and the Senator has referenced issues around downstairs rooms and adapting houses.

I am not sure what the terms of reference of the review are but the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will bring the review forward in due course. I am hopeful that within that review there will be a set of recommendations to move forward and make these schemes continue to be fit for purpose. I want to provide some assurance on modern design and construction and I want to say that disability-proofing all of our housing stock is critically important, not just for the public sector and approved housing bodies, AHBs, but also for the private sector. That is hugely important, given that our population continues to grow older, and we want people to live healthier and happier lives as they grow older.