Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 431: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the level of funding that has been provided to Cork County Council and to Cork City Council every year for the past five years in respect of housing aid for the elderly, housing adaption grants, mobility aid grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23313/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's involvement with the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability relates primarily to the recoupment of a proportion of local authority expenditure on the payment of individual grants. The grant schemes, introduced in November 2007, are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department together with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority. The new suite of grants replaced the discontinued Disabled Persons Grant Scheme, the Essential Repairs Grant Scheme and the Special Housing Aid for the Elderly Scheme, administered by the Health Service Executive.

It is a matter for each local authority to decide on the specific level of funding to be directed to each of the various grant measures from within the allocations notified to them by my Department and to manage the operation of the schemes in their areas from within their allocation.

Details of the annual Exchequer allocations to Cork County Council and Cork City Council for the period 2005 to 2009 are set out in the table below. Data for 2005 and 2006 relate to the discontinued Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grant Schemes. Data for 2007 onwards include the new Housing Adaptation Grant Scheme for People with a Disability, the Housing Aid for Older People and the Mobility Aids Grant Schemes.

Suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability

Exchequer allocations totalling almost €80 million for 2010 were notified to local authorities on 5 March under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability. The allocation to Cork County Council amounts to €6,490,067 compared to an initial Exchequer allocation of €4,863,334 in 2009, an increase of €1.626 million. The allocation to Cork City Council amounts to €2,166,333 compared to an initial Exchequer allocation of €1,635,333 in 2009, an increase of €0.531 million.