Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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287. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to increase the upper limit under the housing adaptation grant; his further plans to increase the means test thresholds; his views on the call by an organisation (details supplied) for the maximum to be increased from €30,000 to €60,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30560/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The funding available for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability was increased in 2017 by some 6%, to an overall funding availability of €59.8m nationally. Some 8,000 households benefitted under this Scheme in 2016, and with the additional funding available this year, this should increase to 10,000.  I have no plans to increase the upper limit of the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability from €30,000. The average individual amount paid under these grants is already lower than the €30,000 upper limit and the current arrangement, therefore, serves to spread the benefits of the available funding to a higher number of recipients.

The income limits for the scheme were revised in 2014 arising from the recommendations of a review group and I have no plans to revise them further. A priority for the scheme is to spread the benefits as widely as possible and to ensure fairness and value for money in its operation. The scheme is therefore more sharply focussed towards households with greatest needs, especially lower income households.