Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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38. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount allocated to each local authority for home adaptation grants through the housing aid for older people scheme in each of the past three years in tabular form. [26604/22]

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 Grant, each of which are 80% funded by my Department, with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority. The administration of the schemes, including assessment, approval and prioritisation, is the responsibility of local authorities. Local authorities receive an overall allocation, with the responsibility for the apportionment between the three schemes being a matter for each authority given their knowledge of local need.

Details of the allocations and drawdowns for all local authorities up to 2021 are available on my Department's website at the following link:  

www.housing.gov.ie/housing/statistics/social-and-affordble/other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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39. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide details on the Croí Cónaithe cities scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26605/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Addressing the current housing shortage requires short, medium and long-term action to stimulate housing supply. The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme is one measure within Housing for All that will help to kick-start apartment developments that might not otherwise be developed.

The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme supports the building of apartments for sale to owner-occupiers. The Scheme aims to bridge the current “Viability Gap” between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price (where the cost of building is greater).

To achieve the national strategic outcome of more compact growth and vibrant liveable cities, the State must offer a greater range of options for both owner-occupiers and renters in cities, at all income levels.  A key focus of Housing for All is to ensure that those who wish to purchase a home have sufficient location choice.  This is particularly the case for the core areas of our cities, towns and villages.

The complementary objectives of tackling climate change and delivering more compact growth require action to ensure that we see developments at scale in our cities, particularly close to public transport nodes and existing infrastructure. There is therefore a strong public policy imperative to encourage the development of housing in our cities.

Funding for Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme will only be made available for suitable apartment developments where there is a demonstrated viability gap. Unless bridged, this gap will lead to the apartments not being built or being built but not available for purchase by owner-occupiers. Open book accounting will be required for all developments to make sure that the funding support provided only targets the viability gap in question resulting in a reduction of cost for home-buyers and increased supply into the market.

The scheme launched on the 10th May and will be managed and administered by the Housing Agency on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Housing Agency will assess eligibility and carry out detailed due diligence and an open book assessment on eligible proposals.

Further details of the scheme and the assessment process are set out in the Expressions of Interest document linked here: Expression of Interest (EOI) Call Croí Cónaithe Cities_.pdf (housingagency.ie)