Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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1383. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the action he will take on the commitment to protect persons with disabilities by implementing a number of the ten points recommended by the Disability Federation of Ireland relevant to his Department, namely increasing the housing adaptation grant by €30 million in order to support persons with disabilities currently living in communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32291/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I am aware of the social benefit accruing from the Housing Adaptation grant schemes in terms of facilitating the continued independent occupancy of their own homes by older people and people with a disability. For that reason, I increased the funding available for the schemes in 2015. At €50.5 million, the funding I announced is an increase of some 10% on the funding that was available last year, supporting local authorities in delivering an increased level of service. I expect that some 8,000 households will benefit under the schemes in 2015. My Department works with local authorities to ensure a full drawdown of their allocation. Through careful management of my Department’s housing budget in 2014, additional funds were made available to local authorities with high levels of grant activity. I will be applying the same scrutiny to the capital budget for 2015 and, in the event of savings arising these grants will be a priority for supplementary funding.

I am aware that the grant measures are heavily subscribed and local authorities are prioritising applications based on need. My Department encourages local authorities to make every effort to keep the schemes open and to this end, approvals for grant commitments carried forward into 2016 can issue up to the value of 50% of their 2015 allocation.