Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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The Minister of State is welcome.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I apologise for being late.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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No problem.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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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.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. It is one he has consistently raised with me, my predecessors and the Government. To give the background, the Senator rightly referenced housing adaptation for older people and people with disabilities where there are three areas, namely, the mobility aids grant, the housing adaptation grant for older people and people with disabilities and the disabled persons' grant. These grants are to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable to their needs and are available to those with an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability and to older people who experience mobility issues or who require essential repairs to their homes in order that they can continue to live independently there. As the Senator is aware, the grants are 80% funded by the Department, with a 20% matching contribution from the local authority. Schemes are means-tested and are on a sliding scale with the highest percentage grant available to those with the lowest income, and vice versa. Obviously, the upper limit is income of €60,000. Detailed administration of these three schemes is the responsibility of the local authorities.

In 2022, extra funding of €65 million was made available for the payment of 12,000 grants, which compared favourably with a target of 10,700. The Exchequer funding of grants in 2023 was increased to €66.5 million. Each local authority received an increase on the 2022 allocation, continuing the year-on-year increases since 2014. The Senator is probably aware that I have secured an increase of €8 million for the current year, bringing the total allocation to deliver more than 13,000 grants up to €74.5 million. Thirteen local authorities have applied for increased funding this year and, to date, ten have had their applications approved. We are looking at the other three applications.

This is a scheme I very much believe in. As the Senator is probably aware, Housing for All contains a commitment 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 disabilities. A report on the review of the housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability has been prepared by the Department. I have gone through it in depth with the officials. On foot of that, we are engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on the recommendations in the review report. The objective of this engagement is to deliver on the emerging recommendations and ensure continued enhancement of this successful grant scheme. Any changes to the current scheme will be dependent on that engagement and on funding being made available for the scheme. It is a hugely important scheme. We also want to see the existing grants continuing.

The Senator made reference to construction inflation. In the review that was carried out we looked at thresholds around income and the level of the grant in terms of costs. This is something of which I am very conscious.

The scheme has been beneficial its introduction in 2007, supporting the delivery of over 136,000 grants up to the end of 2022. As of now we have a submission with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform following the review by my Department. I have looked at that review in great depth with my officials and we are in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on foot of those recommendations. In the Estimates process, I secured an increase of €8 million, which is about 12% on top of the existing level of funding. It is important to note we have issued additional funding this year above the €66.5 million that was granted for the year 2023 to ten local authorities to date and we are looking to approve applications from a further three as well.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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That is absolutely fantastic. I thank the Minister of State for his response, but I am looking for a circular to go from his office to the local authorities telling them to be a little more flexible and take construction inflation into consideration. Take a situation where somebody applied for a grant in 2022 that is only processed in quarter 4 of 2023, by which time he or she is getting a revised quotation that is 20% or 30% higher. If an application goes in for increased funding or an additional piece of funding given the fact the quotations have gone from say, €8,000 to €12,000, maybe the authorities could be a little more flexible and look at maybe facilitating such a top-up.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I understand the point the Senator is making. It is something we are looking at in the specific context of circumstances where people may have applied over a year ago and grant aid is only being provided at the moment. It is certainly something we will look at and take up with the local authorities. There are, as the Senator will appreciate, defined rules under the scheme. However, the point he makes is a reasonable one and something I very much taken on board. I give him a commitment we will look at it and follow up with the local authorities on it.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Excellent. I thank the Minister of State.