Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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95. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if additional funding will be provided to local authorities in 2018 for house improvement grants such as the housing adaptation scheme and the disabled persons grant scheme in view of delays in having applications approved and the importance of these schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26839/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Increased funding is being provided to local authorities in 2018 in respect of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. Details of the 2018 allocations to all local authorities are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/special-housing-needs/minister-english-announces-eu6625-million-funding-improve-homes-older.  Funding for these schemes has increased year on year since 2014 and the 2018 funding represents an increase of some 11% on the 2017 allocation.

My Department works closely with the local authorities to achieve a full drawdown of their allocations and there is careful scrutiny of spend as the year progresses, with any underspend redistributed to those local authorities with high levels of grant activity who sought additional funding.