Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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340. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures which can be taken by an applicant for a grant for housing adaptation that is needed due to the fact the applicant has recently been diagnosed with motor neuron disease and can no longer work (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44070/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs.  The grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People, which are 80% funded by my Department, with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority.  The detailed administration of this scheme including assessment, approval and prioritisation, is the responsibility of local authorities.

The framework for the operation of the scheme is laid down in statutory regulations, namely the Housing (Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability) Regulations 2007, and the Housing (Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability) (Amendment) Regulations 2014. 

The regulations define household income for the purposes of the means test as the combined annual gross income in the previous tax year of both the owner of any property the subject of an application pursuant to these Regulations, together with that of his or her spouse and each member of the household in full-time occupation of the house where such a member is aged 18 years or more, or, where he or she is engaged in full-time third level education, is aged 23 years or more.

The regulations do not allow for any discretion on the tax year assessed for the purposes of the means test. Local authorities, in administering the grant schemes, should always work with qualifying applicants to ensure they get the most beneficial outcome possible under the terms of the schemes.  

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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341. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to reform the tenant purchase scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44091/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum and having been in receipt of social housing support for at least one year.

A review of the first 12 months of the Scheme’s operation has been undertaken. In addition, the Programme for Government commits to maintaining the right of social housing tenants to purchase their own home with some changes to eligibility. The review and the commitments in the Programme for Government are being examined as part of the work on the broader social housing reform agenda. I expect to be in a position to finalise changes to the Scheme once the work on these reform measures is complete.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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342. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he plans to introduce a deposit protection scheme for tenants as promised in Housing for All; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44149/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All – a new Housing Plan for Ireland includes an action to examine the creation of a system of holding rental deposits, informed by international experience, by Q2 2023.

Section 7 of the Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021 inserts a new section 19B into the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 which applies to tenancies created on or after 9 August 2021, to restrict the total amount that a tenant is required to pay to a landlord by way of a deposit or an advance rent payment to secure a tenancy to no more than the equivalent of 2 months’ rent (i.e. any deposit cannot exceed 1 month’s rent and any advance rent payment cannot exceed 1 month’s rent). A restriction of the equivalent of 1 month’s rent is also placed on the amount that a tenant is obliged to pay as a regular advance rent payment to a landlord during a tenancy. These measures are intended to greatly reduce any financial exposure to tenants, on foot of paying such restricted upfront payments.