Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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265. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to review and update the capital assistance scheme funding guidelines for people with a disability for every local authority; if the spending limits (per county) are going to be increased; if so, when; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22509/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Departments Capital Assistance Scheme provides up to 100% capital funding to Approved Housing Body for the construction and acquisition of homes for priority categories of housing need to include persons with a Disability and a budget of €156 Million is available under the programme in 2025.

Spending limits do not apply to housing provided under the Scheme with each project proposal considered on its own merits and in light of the particular range of contributory factors which determine the budget required for the project. Whilst my Department does issue Acquisition Cost Guidelines (ACGs) which apply to second hand property purchases for use as social housing, and Basic Unit Costs (BUCs) which apply to social housing construction projects, these ACGs and BUCs are not applied as absolute ceiling/limits, but instead act as a key benchmark for the development and costing of scheme designs at capital appraisal stage.

Both ACGs and BUCs are updated by my Department on an annual basis, based on an analysis of returned data, construction trends, inflation, and, in the case of the ACGs, current property prices across the local authority area. The 2025 ACGs and BUCs are due for publication in the coming weeks and each of the 31 one local authorities will be issued with their own individual benchmarks for a range of unit types and sizes.

My Department is aware of the complexities of providing housing for persons with disabilities, which may often require substantial adaptive works not necessitated in standard social housing developments, or unit types such as group homes which can prove costlier to construct. These adaptive works are understood to be fundamental to the delivery of such housing projects and will be considered as contributory factors when the overall budget is being determined, and sufficient funding made available to ensure the units delivered meet the needs of the tenants who will be allocated to these homes.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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266. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there are plans to review and reform the capital assistance scheme the improvement works in lieu of social housing scheme (H15 rule) for people with a disability; if so, when; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22510/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the question relates to my Department’s Design Manual for Quality Housing and the H15 unit type contained therein, which is a design approach for a Group Home or Community Dwelling usually used in the provision of housing for people with intellectual disability.

There are currently three variations of the H15 design in the Design Manual for Quality Housing and whilst in most instances, these design approaches will be suitable for the needs being met by the local authority or the approved housing body/AHB with little or no amendments, it is understood that there can be circumstances that may justify adjustments to the designs.

My Department is in ongoing contact with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with the HSE and with representatives of the AHBs involved with the provision of housing and supports for people with intellectual disability on the design and other approaches in this area of housing provision.