Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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1416. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will urgently sanction additional funding to Sligo County Council for the housing adaptation grant for older people and people with a disability schemes to bring its allocation to €2,450,000, which would equate to the sum provided in the council budget for 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41023/25]

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1441. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department is considering amending the housing adaptation grant scheme to allow funding for the installation of sensory rooms or sensory areas in private homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41319/25]

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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1442. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated cost of amending the housing adaptation grant scheme to allow funding for the installation of sensory rooms or sensory areas in private homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41320/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1416, 1441 and 1442 together.

My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People Grant, are funded by my Department with a contribution from the local authority. The detailed administration of the scheme including assessment, approval, prioritisation and apportionment is the responsibility of local authorities.

The Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability and the Mobility Aids Grant is available for the carrying out of works of adaptation that, in the opinion of the local authority, are reasonably necessary for the purposes of rendering a house more suitable for a member of the household who has an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability. In general, these grant schemes can be used for works such as level access showers, accessible bathrooms, access ramps, stair lifts, fixed track hoists or extensions. Grant aid may be considered for the provision of infrastructural and safety related adaptations to create appropriate space for applicants with specific sensory needs not including the provision of sensory equipment. Further details on these schemes is available at the following link:

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

The Exchequer funding available for these grants in 2025 has been increased substantially by €25 million to €99.5 million, or over €117 million when accounting for the local authority contribution, continuing the year on year increases since 2014. Sligo County Council received an Exchequer allocation of over €1.7 million, an increase of 35% on the original allocation in 2024.

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 my Department makes every effort to redistribute such funding throughout the year. Sligo County Council recently requested additional funding from my Department for 2025. My Department has now considered and approved a further Exchequer allocation provision of over €241,170 in 2025.

My Department advises local authorities annually that, as far as practicable, a percentage of the allocation under the schemes should be ring fenced in respect of any emergency applications which might arise under these schemes during the course of the year. Consequently, all local authorities manage their schemes to ensure access to the grants programme is maintained to the extent possible throughout the year in the highest priority cases and further information in this regard would be available directly from the local authorities.