Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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454. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if, in view of the congregate settings and New Directions report, he intends to make funding available in 2013 to agencies (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2772/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Under the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS), funding of up to 100% of the approved cost is available for the provision of accommodation to meet the needs of persons with specific categories of housing need including older people, people with an intellectual, physical or mental health disability, the homeless, returning emigrants and victims of domestic violence.

My Department’s involvement with the CAS relates primarily to the provision of funds for individual projects. The detailed administration of the scheme, including the appraisal of proposals, the certification that projects comply with the terms and conditions of the funding scheme and the processing of applications for funding, are the responsibility of the relevant local authority.

In response to a call for proposals for new voluntary housing projects which issued to local authorities in June 2012, proposals were submitted to my Department by Kildare County Council in respect of Muiriosa Housing Association, Monasterevin and for facilities at various locations within the county on behalf of KARE. Voluntary housing projects to the value of €34.5 million were approved under the call, including two projects in County Kildare costing an estimated €861,290. Approvals were largely based on the prioritisation afforded to individual proposals by the relevant local authority. The proposals in question were not prioritised for progression at the time.

Work is currently underway on preparing the capital allocations under the Social Housing Investment Programme for 2013, including the CAS measure. As part of the process my Department requested local authorities to submit details of their capital requirements for this year in respect of all approved projects and programmes by 25 January. I will review the potential to approve new CAS projects in the light of the available finances and the submissions received from local authorities.