Mark Wall (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, to the House for what is a very important Commencement matter. This is the third time since I was elected to this House that I have raised this matter. We discussed this on the last day the Minister of State was here and he has heard of similar experiences in his own offices. Not a day goes by but I deal with an application for, or a query about, a housing aid or housing adaptation grant. As I have said, and will put on record again, these are very worthwhile grants that can change people's lives in so many ways. More importantly, as I have said, they are grants that can keep people from hospital beds and, as everyone wants, allow them to stay in their own homes.

The problem is that the limits remain at €30,000 for the housing adaptation grant and €8,000 for the housing aid grant. Basically, given the building quotes that are coming in, people and their families simply cannot afford the shortfall and a lot of this work is not happening at the moment. The last time we spoke, the Minister of State said he has had similar experiences coming through his own offices. I will give the example of one of the cases I am dealing with at the moment. A lady in Newbridge, County Kildare, has been offered a grant of €30,000 but the cheapest quote she can get is €58,000. There is no way that she or her family can fund the balance, and that is the cheapest quote she has had, with many builders quoting €60,000 to €70,000, and €75,000 the highest quote that she has got. She and her family have looked everywhere to try to fund this life-changing grant application but, unfortunately, they have not been able to come up with the money. It is such vulnerable people that I am talking about today.

The housing aid grant is also a great grant in all respects but, again, quotes are coming in for €12,000 to €14,000, and people are simply not able to afford the balance in order to make the changes to a room or bathroom or put in windows that will make their house more secure. I want to put on record, as I have always done on previous Commencement matters, that the staff who deal daily with these queries and applications go above and beyond. Unfortunately, when I deal with them now, I find there are backlogs because they are inundated with queries about this grant. Many of the local authorities I have spoken to are changing or adapting their rules to try to accommodate this grant, and my own local authority in Kildare is one of those. I have spoken to staff extensively in regard to this grant. To quote directly from an Oireachtas meeting and subsequent correspondence I have had with them, I am told they are doing this to deal with an ageing population and that in order to address the increase in applications for these grants, it is necessary to prioritise certain categories of work. To take the windows grant as an example, they are now looking to prioritise single-glazed windows or timber-frame windows over other applications.

We are in the middle of an economic crisis but, more importantly, a climate crisis where we are talking about retrofitting, as the Minister of State, more than anyone else, will know. I engaged with the SEAI at a meeting of the Oireachtas social protection committee and I was told that it does not do a windows grant. Therefore, this is the only grant people can apply for but it has not been changed for many years. Unfortunately, people are going into hospital because they cannot use the adaptation grant to stay in their own homes.

I hope the Minister of State will bring good news today. I have raised this a number of times. I am told there is a report and I look forward to some good news today, on St. Brigid’s Day.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Before I bring in the Minister of State, I know the experience the Senator is having is certainly reflected in County Clare and, no doubt, in every other local authority area in the country.The figures for this scheme have not increased for years. I look forward to a positive response from the Minister of State.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Lá Fhéile Bríde shona daoibh go léir.

I thank the Senator for bringing this matter to the House. We have discussed it before and he has raised it on a number of occasions. As the Acting Chairperson has said, it is something that all of our constituency offices are dealing with. There is no doubt the grant is no longer fit for purpose. Given the rising costs of labour and materials, it would certainly not complete the works. It may have done in the past when it was introduced, but it is certainly not meeting all of the needs of the people at the minute.

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. 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 repairs to their home so that can continue to live independently at home. We know people are living longer and it is Government policy to try to keep people living at home for as long as they can.

The grants are 80% funded by the Department, together with a 20% matching contribution from the resources of the local authority. 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 each local authority. I join the Senator in commending local authority staff across the country who put in exceptional work dealing with these grant applications.

In 2023, an Exchequer provision of more than €72 million in funding, which included a supplementary Exchequer provision of €6 million, was made available to facilitate the payment of more than 13,000 grants, which compares favourably with the target of more than 12,300 grants. The Exchequer funding available for these grants in 2024 is €74.5 million, or in excess of €93 million when the local authority contribution is included, continuing the year-on-year increases since 2014. Therefore, the capital allocation for the grant has been increasing.

Housing for All committed to undertaking a review of the range of housing grants available to assist in meeting specific housing needs for both our ageing population and people with a disability. A report on the review of the housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability has been prepared by the Department, and among the areas which the review considered are the income thresholds and the grant limits.

My Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP 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 with a view to bringing forward amendments to the relevant regulations governing the schemes. I hope that gives some comfort to the Senator. Certainly, the recommendations will be coming forward, and out of that there will be amendments to the regulations governing the scheme, which we would all welcome.

I note the case study the Senator highlighted. The rising cost of labour and materials presents challenges for local authority staff dealing with them. Given our ageing population, agencies and authorities need to ensure people who are getting older and people with disabilities can live independently and comfortably in their own homes. The optimum for all people in this category should be to have a comfortable and good quality life, living in their homes for as long as they can.

Mark Wall (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply but, unfortunately, it is a bit of déjà vubecause the last time we spoke, this report was with Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform for discussion on changes to be brought forward. At the same time, as the Minister of State said, people are not being allowed to live independently in their homes, which this grant would give them the opportunity to do. Will he go back to the Department and confirm a timeframe for those changes? Maybe he can tell me today.

The income threshold limits need to change to keep pace with building inflation. I welcome the Government's allocation of €74 million. This is a life-changing grant. Everybody in this House, across all parties and none, will support that. However, we need to see the changes quickly. We need to see them for that lady in Newbridge and the many others I deal with every day. I ask the Minister of State to put a timeframe on that because the responses I got previously stated he was in discussions with Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. However, people want to see new income thresholds and the chance to live independently in their own homes.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I appreciate the Senator's frustration. I know I have come back in here a few times with pretty much the same stock answer. He should rest assured we are working on it and we hope to have an outcome from that process very soon with a revised set of thresholds. As I mentioned, the trajectory of the capital allocations increasing year on year is commensurate with increased demand. Given that our population is ageing and people are living longer, those demands will increase in the future. It is important we work together to try to ensure the grant is fit for purpose and meets the needs of families so they can feel confident they can afford to get the works carried out. I will come back with a more specific timeline through our Department.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for giving his time here this morning. It is much appreciated.