Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides funding to local authorities in respect of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist eligible people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability (max grant €30,000), the Mobility Aids Grant (max grant €6,000) and the Housing Aid for Older People (max grant €8,000). A means test applies to each grant scheme.

The Housing Aid for Older People scheme provides grants of up to €8,000 to assist older people living in poor housing conditions to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out. Grant qualifying works comprise essential works which make a property habitable including structural repairs or improvements, upgrade to electrical wiring, repair or replacement of windows and doors, provision of heating, water or sanitary services. The detailed administration of the schemes is the responsibility of the local authorities, therefore the qualifying works is a matter for consideration and decision on a case-by-case basis by the local authority within the scope of the grant scheme.

Further details on these schemes are available on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/service/6636c-housing-adaptation-grants-for-older-people-and-people-with-a-disability/

My Department’s Rural Water Programme makes provision for grant assistance to householders in carrying out remediation, repair or upgrading works to, or replacement of, a domestic waste water treatment systems (septic tanks) where these are located in areas specifically prioritised for environmental protection or where identified as requiring action under a national inspection plan.

Further information can be obtained from the local authorities who are responsible for the day to day administration of these grants or on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/6cc1e-domestic-waste-water-treatment-systems-septic-tanks/

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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183. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason people availing of the derelict house grant are required to pay the money to the contractor up front and then claim back for the local authority, which makes the grant unattainable for most people as they do not have such funds available, and in those circumstances, the reason the local authority cannot be authorised to pay the contractors directly, thus making the grant more easily accessible to those who need it. [40810/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock.

In July 2022 the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant was launched to support bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use.

From 1 May 2023, a grant of up to a maximum of €50,000 is available for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence and for properties which will be made available for rent, including the conversion of a property which has not been used as residential heretofore, subject to appropriate planning permission being in place.

Where the refurbishment costs are expected to exceed the standard grant of up to €50,000, a maximum top-up grant amount of up to €20,000 is available where the property is confirmed by the applicant to be derelict or where the property is already on the local authority’s Derelict Sites Register, bringing the total grant available for a derelict property up to a maximum of €70,000.

The grant is available in respect of vacant and derelict properties built up to and including 2007, in towns, villages, cities and rural areas.

A maximum of two grants are available to any applicant, of which one must be in respect of a home they intend to occupy as their principal private residence and the other may be in respect of a property which will be made available for rent.

The grant process involves the local authority receiving and reviewing applications to ensure that the grant conditions are met and arranging for a qualified person to visit the property to check the refurbishment work being applied for and to assess the proposed cost. Following confirmation of a successful application and the works being completed, the local authority will conduct a final property visit to review that the work has been completed in-line with the grant application. Once the local authority is satisfied, they will then pay the grant.

Payment of the grant at the end of this process is to ensure that the applicant has carried out the works applied for, and approved.

When the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund was launched, a commitment was given that the schemes funded by it would be kept under ongoing review. A comprehensive review and evaluation of the schemes under the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund, including the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, will be undertaken by mid-2024.