Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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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. 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.

My Department's approach each year is to issue a single full year allocation to each local authority, so they can plan and implement the grants programme. Over the course of the year, my Department works closely with the local authorities to monitor spend and to achieve a full drawdown of the available funding. This means that if underspends arise on the part of some local authorities, they can be redistributed to other authorities which have high levels of grant activity.

In 2023, an initial Exchequer provision of €66.5 million combined with a Supplementary Exchequer provision of an additional €6 million facilitated the payment of over 13,000 grants. Details of initial annual allocations and subsequent local authority drawdown up to 2023, incorporating additional funding sanctioned, can be found on my Department's website at the following link:

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

My Department also provides funding to local authorities under the Disabled Persons Grants scheme to carry out works on social housing stock to address the needs of older people, people with a disability or overcrowded situations. Extensions to provide for ground floor bathrooms and bedrooms can also be supported. The detailed administration of this scheme including assessment, approval and prioritisation of applications is the responsibility of local authorities.

Details on the allocation and drawdown of funding for each local authority for the Disabled Persons Grant, which incorporates Improvement Works in Lieu, is available at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/061cd-disabled-persons-grant-and-improved-works-in-lieu-schemes-allocation-and-drawdown/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c472d-disabled-persons-grant-and-improved-works-in-lieu-schemes-allocation-and-drawdown-2011-2020/