Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1311: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will allocate the necessary funding to install central heating in the 710 houses, including 100 occupied by elderly tenants, in the rented stock of Limerick County Council, which require central heating. [34275/04]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The management, maintenance and improvement of their rented dwellings, including the installation of central heating is primarily the responsibility of local authorities to be financed from their own resources. My Department introduced a scheme in July 2004 for the installation of central heating in existing local authority rented dwellings. The scheme provided a contribution of €5,600 or up to 80% of the cost, whichever is the lesser, for each approved dwelling. The Department's contribution under the 2004 scheme was €12 million, of which Limerick County Council received some €119,000.

A sum of €30 million is being provided by my Department as its contribution to the scheme in 2005 and applications will be invited shortly from local authorities for the funding. My Department has required, since 1994, that central heating be provided during construction in new local authority dwellings and included in the overall cost of schemes. Where capital funding is provided under regeneration and remedial programmes operated by my Department for upgrading of local authority dwellings, the provision of central heating normally forms part of the work undertaken.