Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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307. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason the disability allowance payment, as well as a list of other social welfare payments, is not disregarded when assessing income for the purposes of securing a housing grant under the housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability grant scheme; if he proposes amending this rule; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10167/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides funding to local authorities so as to enable them administer the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme. These schemes assist eligible applicants living in privately owned homes to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The schemes are means tested and operate on a sliding scale with the highest percentage grants available to those with the lowest incomes and vice versa.

A number of payments from the Department of Social Protection are disregarded for the purpose of the means test. Typically these payments are paid in respect of individuals who are either caring or financially supporting a third party, for example a child, a relative with an enduring impairment or a child in foster care. Specific payments related to basic needs such as fuel allowance etc. are also disregarded. These disregards are designed to ensure that the provision of financial assistance for living costs or care do not disadvantage an individual applying for grant assistance under the scheme. Payments such as Disability Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance/Benefit or Non-Contributory Pension are not disregarded as they are income subsidies paid directly to an individual, and are therefore assessed as income under the means test in line with the regulations.

Housing for All commits to reviewing the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. Among the areas which the review considered are the income thresholds, the grant limits, the application and decision making processes, including supplementary documentation required. A report on the review of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability has been prepared by my Department. I will be giving careful consideration to the review report and expect to make a decision on the recommendations in the report as soon as possible.