Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if further funding will be provided this year to local authorities in respect of a programme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27332/24]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities under the 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, which are 80% funded by my Department, with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority. The detailed administration of the scheme including assessment, approval, prioritisation and budgetary apportionment is the responsibility of local authorities.

The Exchequer funding provision of €74.5 million for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme has been increased by €8 million for 2024. Local authorities were recently informed of their 2024 allocations with each local authority receiving an increase on the 2023 allocation, continuing the year on year increases since 2014.

My Department works closely with the local authorities to monitor spend and to achieve a full drawdown of available funding. This means that any underspends that arise on the part of any local authority can be redistributed to other authorities which have high levels of grant activity and the Department makes every effort to redistribute such funding throughout the year. My Department encourages all local authorities to ensure all applications on hand are processed to the degree possible for final payment to ensure optimal spend on their annual allocation. Whilst additional Exchequer funding may become available, the Council must provide the 20% match funding from their own resources therefore the Council is also managing the scheme within the resources allocated at the local level.

Housing for All commits to reviewing the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme and a report on the review has been prepared by my Department. Among the areas which the review considered are the income thresholds that apply and the grant limits. My Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on the recommendations in the report with a view to bringing forward amendments to the relevant Regulations governing the schemes as soon as possible with a view to also publishing the final report.