Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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857. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if additional funding will be allocated to Galway County Council in respect of the housing adaptation grant for persons with a disability, housing for older persons scheme and mobility aids grant schemes respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29903/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I have allocated funding of €71.25m nationally in 2019 for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, in respect of private houses.  This includes €2,655,162 for Galway County Council, comprising exchequer funding of €2,124,130 and €531,032 from the local authority, an increase  of €296,352 over 2018.

Over the course of each year, my Department works closely with all local authorities to monitor spend and to achieve a full drawdown of the available funding.  As the year progresses, any underspend by some local authorities, is redistributed to other authorities with high levels of grant activity who seek additional funding.  Accordingly, if Galway County Council require additional funding in 2019, they can submit details to my Department in order to be considered for an increased allocation in the event of underspends elsewhere.