Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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754. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the allocation Tipperary County Council received for the housing adaptation grant for persons with a disability, home owner, local authority tenant, housing aid for older people and mobility aids grant in 2017; the percentage of this allocation compared to 2016; the percentage of that allocation that has been received by Tipperary County Council for each grant category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39199/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability assist people in private houses to have necessary adaptations, repairs or improvement works carried out in order to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs.  The suite of grants includes the Housing Aid for Older People, the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability and the Mobility Aids Grant.  The 2017 allocation for Tipperary County Council is €2,426,184 which is 104% of the 2016 allocation.  During 2016, the Council drew down 65% of the allocation, broken down into 15.6%, 40.6% and 8.8%, respectively, in respect of the Housing Aid for Older People, Housing Adaptation and Mobility Aids grants. On top of the exchequer funding amounts, the local authority made a further 20% contribution in respect of these grants.

The Disabled Persons Grant Scheme provides funding for adaptations to existing social housing stock such as grab rails, disabled access ramps, wet rooms, etc. The Scheme also supports extensions in cases of overcrowding. During 2016, my Department provided funding of €522,243 to the Council under the scheme and this year their allocation is €411,695; which is 79% of their 2016 funding.  On top of the exchequer funding amounts, the local authority also makes a further 10% contribution in respect of these grants. While the allocation for this year is lower than the amount they received in 2016, my Department will be closely monitoring the spend on the scheme and where local authorities are underspending, the Department can give consideration to increasing allocations to local authorities following a request from them for additional funding.

The detailed administration of these grants, including the assessment, approval and prioritisation of grants to applicants under the various measures, is the responsibility of the local authorities.  I am conscious of the social benefit accruing from the Schemes and further consideration will be given to increasing the funding over the coming years.