Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 659: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will increase the income limit of €40,000 which applies for the qualification of a person with a disability seeking to improve their home to make it more accessible in view of the commensurate rise in house values and mortgages and taking into account that the figure of €40,000 is inadequate and low as a percentage of current house prices. [12494/07]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The administration of the Disabled Persons Grant scheme is delegated to local authorities within the framework laid down in statutory regulations; as far as is practicable, this is designed to give an appropriate degree of flexibility at local level. In the light of substantially increased demand for grant assistance, the majority of local authorities have reviewed their schemes in recent years in order to streamline their operation and have introduced a variety of mechanisms to ensure that the available resources are targeted to those in most need, including medical prioritisation, means testing and/or cost control. The issue of means testing has been considered in the context of the review of the operation of the Disabled Persons Grant scheme which has been completed within my Department.

A revised scheme to be known as the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability will be introduced later this year and will assist in the provision/adaptation of accommodation to meet the needs of people with a disability. The revised scheme is designed to ensure that available funding is targeted at lower income households and those whose need is greatest. Prioritisation of eligibility will be on the basis of medical and financial need with 95% of the approved cost of works available to those with annual household incomes of less than €30,000 tapering to 30% for those with annual incomes of €54,001 to €65,000.

The revised scheme will come into operation during 2007 and the income bands for the purposes of means testing will be amended annually in line with the amount of wage inflation in the preceding year. I will be issuing guidance to the local authorities on the operation of the revised scheme in due course.