Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 570: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 568 of 20 May 2008 and 406 of 24 June 2008, if he will provide extra funding to Clare County Council to operate the housing adaptation grant schemes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25523/08]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 574: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the funding allocated to South Tipperary County Council to operate the housing adaptation grant for the elderly and the housing adaptation grant for people with disabilities; the number of applicants facilitated under both schemes to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25714/08]

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 586: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of moneys provided by his Department to fund the disabled persons and essential repairs grants to local authorities in 2006 and 2007; if his attention has been drawn to the long waiting lists where many elderly people have to wait for periods of up to three years to have their applications approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25871/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 570, 574 and 586 together.

Under the terms of the Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grant Schemes, my Department recoups 66% of the expenditure on individual grants to local authorities. Information on local authority activity under the schemes in 2006 is published in my Department's Annual Housing Statistics Bulletin, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and on my Department's website, www.environ.ie; comparable data for last year will be contained in the 2007 Annual Bulletin to be published shortly. The administration of the Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grant Schemes, including the processing of individual applications, is a matter for individual local authorities. All applications received under the Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grant Schemes prior to 1 November 2007 are being dealt with under the terms of those schemes and local authorities are encouraged to process the remaining applications in a sympathetic and flexible manner, having regard to the needs of the applicants.

Following my Department's review of the Schemes, a revised framework of grant aid was implemented in November 2007 to assist older people and people with a disability with their accommodation needs. One of the primary aims of the review was to streamline the administrative and operational procedures governing the schemes thereby ensuring that applicants would not be subject to undue delays in accessing grants.

The revised Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability, which replaced the old Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grant Schemes, provide for systems of medical prioritisation, standardisation of costs, flexibility regarding quotations and improved arrangements for the use of Occupational Therapists and access to contractors. These mechanisms enable authorities to manage the schemes efficiently and to tackle any backlogs of applications which may have built up.

Combined capital allocations of €1,343,550 and €1,308,060 were notified to South Tipperary County Council and Clare County Council, respectively, on 21 May 2008 for the operation of the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability in private houses in 2008. The revised schemes are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department, together with 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority. It is a matter for local authorities to decide on the specific level of funding to be directed towards each of the schemes, from within the combined allocation notified to them by my Department, and to manage the operation of the schemes in their area from within this allocation.

Requests for additional funding for the operation of the schemes are dealt with in the context of the reallocation of surplus resources from other local authorities and, as such, allocations provided to local authorities are generally revised during the course of the year where expenditure is higher or lower than anticipated. Applications for additional funding from authorities will be considered by my Department in the light of any savings emerging later in the year in other local authority areas.

The most recent information received from South Tipperary County Council regarding activity under the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability at 12 June 2008, is set out as follows.