Written answers

Tuesday, 20 May 2008

Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government

Housing Aid for the Elderly

9:00 pm

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 549: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for Government to facilitate the building of retirement villages and introduce on a pilot basis purpose built neighbourhoods for older people in existing communities. [19268/08]

Photo of Máire HoctorMáire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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Housing policy and support, as set out in the Government's housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, is designed to reflect the needs of our growing and diverse population and to target supports at the particular needs of people in different phases of their life.

Supported by an unprecedented €18 billion investment in housing programmes provided for under the National Development Plan, 2007-2013, my Department's social housing investment programme is focused on meeting the needs of individual residents by providing them with homes for life in safe and well planned neighbourhoods. The Government has undertaken a broad range of actions as part of a strategic response to enhance the range of housing supports and services available to older people. These actions range from the introduction of better-targeted financial supports to the development of inter-agency protocols to ensure coordinated service delivery at local level where there is a care dimension in association with meeting housing need.

Apart from the provision of retirement-type accommodation by the private sector, the specific accommodation needs of older people can be directly met through a wide range of available supports including grant schemes which allow people to remain in their own homes to the provision of specific accommodation through local authority housing and voluntary and cooperative housing. In the context of Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, my Department continues to keep the matter of financial contribution schemes, whereby private housing is part-exchanged for social rented accommodation appropriate for older people, under review.

The provision of accommodation by approved voluntary and co-operative housing bodies is an integral part of the Department's overall response to delivering on housing need for older people. Under the Capital Assistance Scheme, funding of up to 100% of the approved cost is available for the provision of permanent accommodation for groups with special housing needs, including the elderly. This year the allocation for the scheme is being increased from €113m in 2007 to a record €130m. Approved housing bodies which provide sheltered housing under the scheme, normally provide on-site support for the tenants where necessary. However, where a higher level of support is needed, this may be done with assistance from the Health Service Executive. The HSE introduced a scheme of dedicated funding for sheltered housing in 2006 with funding of €0.5m in 2006 and 2007. This was increased to €1.1m in 2008.

In line with the commitments set out in the housing policy statement and the partnership agreement, Towards 2016, a cross-departmental team on sheltered housing, chaired by my Department, was established last year to develop and oversee policy in this area and to agree, as a priority, local structures and protocols for integrated management and delivery of housing and related care services. The work of this group will ultimately feed into the new National Positive Ageing Strategy, outlined in the Programme for Government.

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