Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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768.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason the maximum grant for housing aid for older persons is less than it is in SI 670/2007, where the grant specified is 100% of costs up to €10,500; if he plans on changing the scheme to reflect this and the increased cost of works; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[33774/24]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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891.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the current caps on grant payments and the current caps on income which apply to housing aid for older people, to mobility aids, and to housing adaptation grants; when these caps were last raised; the level these caps would reach if grants had been indexed to the average cost of works undertaken under the scheme, and the income ceilings to the rise in contributory pensions over the intervening period; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35872/24]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 768 and 891 together.

My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities to administer the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, which support older and disabled people living in private houses to adapt their home to meet 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 these schemes, including assessment, approval and prioritisation, is the responsibility of local authorities. The Department does not hold the disaggregated information required to provide projected grant limits or income thresholds based on the proposed indexation.

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. Further details on the current grant limits and income thresholds under these schemes is 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/

The grants were reviewed in 2013 by a review group which considered how the benefits of the grants could be spread as widely as possible and achieve fairness and value for money in the grants process. Arising from the recommendations of the review group, the income requirements, eligibility and maximum grant were revised in 2014 to focus the grants towards those with the greatest need.

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 the review considered are the income thresholds (including the means test provisions) and grant limits, and the application and decision-making processes including the supplementary documentation required. 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.