Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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696. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there are grants or financial supports for a family that wish to convert a part of their house not adjoined to but beside the home into suitable accommodation for elderly parents to allow them to move close to their family and downsize; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18652/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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There are no grants available from my Department to meet the specific circumstances referred to by the Deputy. However, my Department is committed to supporting older people to live in their own home with dignity and independence for as long as possible. To this end, my Department, in conjunction with the Department of Health, is developing policy options for supported housing/housing with care so that older people have a wider range of accommodation choices available to them in accordance with the principles of the joint policy statement, "Housing Options for Our Ageing Population". This policy statement was published by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Department of Health on 27th February 2019. The policy statement is available on my Department's website at:

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A number of the 40 Actions in the Joint Statement include consideration of the issue of a scheme for rightsizing within the context of providing a variety of housing options for older people depending on their circumstances. A number of local authorities already provide for such a scheme for their tenants.

My Department and the policy Implementation Group are examining these options and a number of research projects are informing this work. It is intended that the Implementation Group will provide its final report addressing each of the 40 actions, including those relating to rightsizing, by the end of 2021. Consideration is also taking place in the context of the preparation of the Government's new Housing Strategy - Housing for All.