Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the hardship being caused to elderly and disabled people in County Monaghan as a result of the failure of his Department to adequately fund Monaghan County Council for the housing adaption grants scheme, the mobility aid scheme and the housing aid for older people scheme since the introduction of these new schemes from 1 November 2007; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that the council has a shortfall of more than €2.8 million versus the value of applications on hand at 20 September 2008 and that old and vulnerable people in the county are being forced to borrow from financial institutions as the council cannot pay out the grants approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35134/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is very much aware of the critical role that the Housing Adaptation Grant schemes for Older People and People with a Disability play in the context of an overall continuum of care. The revised suite of grant schemes, implemented in November 2007, streamline the administrative and operational procedures governing the schemes, providing a more targeted and integrated response to the housing needs of some of the more vulnerable members of society.

The launch of the revised suite of grant schemes and the associated publicity has led to a heightened level of demand across a number of local authority areas. In light of this, housing authorities have been requested to prioritise applications within available resources, with particular consideration to be given to those applicants requiring alterations or adaptations to facilitate discharge from hospital or alleviate the need for hospitalisation in the future, and those applicants who require essential repairs or improvement works as a matter of urgency.

A combined allocation of €1,911,390 was notified to Monaghan County Council earlier this year for the operation of these schemes. It is a matter for each local authority to decide on the level of funding to be provided for each of the schemes from within this combined allocation and to manage the operation of the schemes from within this allocation.

In light of particularly significant levels of demand under these schemes, Monaghan County Council was recently notified of an additional Exchequer allocation of €250,000 towards their operation in 2008.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if a local authority (details supplied) has made an application for additional funding to alleviate the waiting list for grants to the authority for housing adaption grants in respect of persons with disabilities, housing aid for older people and the mobility aids housing grant; when the application was submitted; the funding requested to meet the demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35145/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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As previously indicated to local authorities, requests for additional funding under the Housing Adaptation Grants Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability are dealt with in the context of the reallocation of any surplus resources arising elsewhere. In this context, my Department has advised all local authorities to monitor their expenditure under the Schemes carefully.

Requests have been received from a number of local authorities, including Kildare County Council, for supplementary allocations in respect of the Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grant Schemes and the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability Schemes. In response to the particularly high levels of activity under the revised schemes experienced in 2008 by certain local authorities, my Department recently made supplementary Exchequer allocations totalling €3.6 million towards the operation of these schemes this year.

While Kildare County Council was not among those authorities, the issue of an additional allocation to the Council will be considered in the event of further funding becoming available. My Department has re-emphasised to local authorities the importance of prioritisation in assessing grant applications given the level of activity being experienced nationally.